14 Andrew Marvell

Ms.Anchitha Krishna

Introduction 

This module deals with the life and a few select works of the 17th century poet and parliamentarian, Andrew Marvell. The module consists of an introduction to his life followed by critical analyses of two of his poems, ‘To his Coy Mistress’ and ‘An Horatian Ode’, which are two of the most anthologized poems of 17th century English literature.

First let us look into the life and times of Andrew Marvell.

Life and Times of Andrew Marvell (1621-1678) 

Andrew Marvell was an English poet, prose writer and parliamentarian whose works are marked by the spirit and temperament of 17th century England. Marvell was born in Winestead-in- Holderness, East Riding of Yorkshire, near the town of Kingston-upon-Hull, in 1621. His father, Rev. Andrew Marvell, was a clergyman who was later appointed as a lecturer at Holy Trinity Church. Marvell was educated in Hull Grammar School and Trinity College, Cambridge. It is said that he was persuaded to leave the university by some Jesuit priests and he ran off to London and was converted to Roman Catholicism. But he was soon discovered by his father which put  an end to his ventures. He was admitted as a scholar of Trinity College, Cambridge and took his B.A in 1639. His earliest works, two poems in Greek and Latin, addressed to the King, appeared in Musa Cantabrigiensis in 1637. He left Cambridge in 1641 following his father’s death by drowning.

From 1642-1646, he travelled in France, Holland, Italy and Spain, missing the civil war years of England and there are no records of how he spent his time abroad. John Milton, his contemporary and close friend, had later testified that he spent those years ‘gaining those four languages.’ From 1650-52, he was tutor to Mary Fairfax, the twelve year old daughter of Lord Thomas Fairfax. It was during his stay at the Fairfax’s Nun Appleton House that he wrote most of his English lyric poetry including his love lyrics and pastorals, like ‘To His Coy Mistress’ and ‘Upon Appleton House’. He also wrote ‘An Horatian Ode’ (1650), one of the greatest political poems in English, during his stay in Appleton House. He befriended Milton in 1653 who recommended him for the post of Latin secretary in the council of state, a post he secured in 1657. He subsequently became tutor to William Dutton, the ward of Cromwell and travelled with him on the Continent. In 1659, Marvell was elected Member of Parliament for his hometown, Kingston-upon-Hull in the Third Protectorate Parliament, a post he held till 1678. After the Restoration (1660), he convinced the government of Charles II to not execute his friend, John Milton for his revolutionary polemics and pamphlets. He travelled to Holland, Russia, Sweden and Denmark on diplomatic missions from 1662-65.

Marvell is noted for his satirical verses against the King and his chief minister, the Earl of Clarendon. In 1667, he composed his finest satirical lyrics, against the Earl of Clarendon, ‘Last Instructions to a Painter’ and in the same year he participated in the impeachment of Clarendon. In 1672, he composed The Rehearsal Transpros’d, a political satire in prose advocating tolerance of dissenters. The first of this prose work was published anonymously and in the second part, published in the following year, he acknowledged his authorship. Through his satirical works he waged war against the abuse of power and corruption in court. In 1674, he wrote the commendatory poem for the second edition of Milton’s Paradise Lost.

Marvell was disappointed by the King’s policies on France and Catholicism though he welcomed the King’s toleration of the dissenters. In 1676, he wrote Mr. Smrike, criticizing the Anglican persecution of the non-conformists. An Account of the Growth of Popery and Arbitrary Government in England (1677), the anonymous pamphlet written in the same outspoken tone as the verse satires, was a powerful indictment of the designs to establish absolute monarchy and the Roman Catholic religion at the same time. In 1678, he visited Hull and fell ill on his return journey which resulted in his sudden death. In 1681, his Miscellaneous Poems was published posthumously. It was brought to print by Mary Marvell, who claimed to be his widow, but was actually his housekeeper Mary Palmer. It was generally regarded as an act to save Marvell’s estates from being plundered by the creditors of his business partners. Marvell was buried in the church of St. Giles in the Fields in central London.

Marvell is often associated with the metaphysical school of English poetry of the 17th century. His style has been influenced by John Donne, one of the eminent figures in the metaphysical school. The metaphysical poets were known for their use of wit and conceit and paradoxes to bring home an idea or image. They used reason and rationality and composed verse lyrics that often dealt with love and religion. Their poetry was said to be passionate and full of “paradoxical argument, touched with humour and learned imagery”, by Grierson. Marvell’s ‘To his Coy Mistress’ (which we shall read later), has metaphysical and carpe-diem (seize the moment) elements in it.

Critics down the ages have commended him for his genuineness and wit. His prose works and poems showcase the literary tendencies of 17th century England. His works often show the patriot and political critic in him, even though his political views were quite equivocal. His poems show the influence, especially, of Donne and Milton. However, Cyril Falls in his 1921 essay on Marvell says, “There is another poet of the generation previous to his whom in some of his moods he recalls—George Herbert. He was religious, but always and before all a sturdy Protestant of the Reformation. His mysticism is a Protestant mysticism. It is not fanciful to suppose that at certain moments, moments of revulsion from the world, he approached the point of view of that recluse, so colourless beside Crashaw, who yet remains the most typically  English of devotional poets. ‘The Coronet’ and ‘A Dialogue between the Soul and Body’ are the examples of this side of his poetical genius.” (Andrew Marvell, 359).

Marvell was more appreciated for his prose works and satires than his lyric poems until the 20th century. His poems were better esteemed in 19th century America than in Britain. It was with Grierson’s Metaphysical Lyrics and T.S Eliot’s essay on Andrew Marvell that the modern appraisal of his poems began.

James Lowell has observed that Marvell’s poems form the synthesis of Donne and Butler. He also comments on the rare combination he displays, of wit with moral sense. Pierre Legouis’s biographical and critical study, André Marvell: poète, puritain, patriote (Paris-London, 1928), contains detailed treatment of the man and the writer. The English Version (1965) prepared by Leguois himself stands as the authoritative work on Marvell till date. Eliot’s essays along with H.M. Margoliouth’s annotated edition of Marvell’s Poems and J.B. Leishman’s Art of Marvell’s Poetry have contributed to the 20th century critical interest in Marvell.

Text and analysis of “To his coy mistress” 

The century was vibrant and active in both literary and political spheres as seen in the changes it brought into both the realms. Marvell being a parliamentarian and political observer and also a literary personality represents the spirit of his times.

Now we shall study two poems of Andrew Marvell which represent the metaphysical/Carpe Diem elements and his views on the political climate of the mid-17th century England.

To His Coy Mistress 

Had we but world enough and time,

This coyness, lady, were no crime.

We would sit down, and think which way

To walk, and pass our long love’s day.

Thou by the Indian Ganges’ side

Should strubies find; I by the tide

Of Humber would complain. I would

Love you ten years before the flood,

And you should, if you please, refuse

Till the conversion of the Jews.

My vegetable love should grow

Vaster than empires and more slow;

An hundred years should go to praise

Thine eyes, and on thy forehead gaze;

Two hundred to adore each breast,

But thirty thousand to the rest;

An age at least to every part,

And the last age should show your heart.

For, lady, you deserve this state,

Nor would I love at lower rate.

But at my back I always hear

Time’s wingèd chariot hurrying near;

And yonder all before us lie

Deserts of vast eternity.

Thy beauty shall no more be found;

Nor, in thy marble vault, shall sound

My echoing song; then worms shall try

That long-preserved virginity,

And your quaint honour turn to dust,

And into ashes all my lust;

The grave’s a fine and private place,

But none, I think, do there embrace.

Now therefore, while the youthful hue

Sits on thy skin like morning dew,

And while thy willing soul transpires

At every pore with instant fires,

Now let us sport us while we may,

And now, like amorous birds of prey,

Rather at once our time devour

Than languish in his slow-chapped power.

Let us roll all our strength and all

Our sweetness up into one ball,

And tear our pleasures with rough strife

Through the iron gates of life:

Thus, though we cannot make our sun

Stand still, yet we will make him run.

‘To His Coy Mistress’ is one of the most celebrated ‘Carpe Diem’ (seize the day) poems in English. It consists of three stanzas, where a lover is telling his lady love, who is shy, to shed all her coyness and utilize the time they have to the fullest. He says in the first stanza what he would have done, if he had the time he needs. In the second stanza he warns of the shortage of time and how she will repent later on (after death) for not using the time properly (in love making). In the last stanza, he invites her to join him in enjoying the pleasures of love and make the most of the time they have on this Earth. The poem moves from “If we had…” to “but…” to “therefore” a logically progressive argument.

Analysis of the poem 

In the very first lines itself the speaker presents the fact that they (the lovers) do not have enough time. He tells his love that if they had enough time and space to enjoy, then her coyness would not have been a ‘crime’. The word ‘crime’ intensifies the lack of time and how the whiling away of time is seen as a ‘sin’ or an offence. She is bashful and hence squandering the time instead of indulging in the acts of love. He then proceeds to tell her what they would have done if they had enough time. They would have sat down and thought about how to spend their day. She would  be miles apart from him, spending her time by the side of the river Ganges, in India. And he would compose plaintive songs by the side of the river Humber in England. Through this image, Marvell brings the exotic (Ganges) and juxtaposes it with the familiar (Humber, which flows through his hometown). The reference to rubies (line 6) is also significant as the Eastern (orient) lands were known for precious stones. Donne also refers to these precious mines in his ‘The Sun Rising’. Also rubies are a symbol of virginity and believed to protect one from lust.

He then goes on to explore the aspect of time using various hyperboles (exaggeration). He says he would love her from ten years before the flood which Noah survived, as described  in Genesis,. And she would refuse till the conversion of the Jews, which marks the end of the world and the end of time itself. We can see an intermixing of the past and the future here through hyperboles expressing the vastness of time. His ‘vegetable’ love grows slowly (given they had ample time) and becomes vaster than the empires. The term ‘vegetable’ is a much debated one. It may refer to “organic” love, that which evolves naturally or that which grows and multiplies in great number (read it together with ‘vaster than empires’, line 12- space and time are juxtaposed). Some critics also see it as a phallic reference.

The lover resorts once again to hyperboles to express his passion and adoration for his love. He would need centuries to express his adoration of each part of the body of his mistress. And finally she would show him her heart and they would consummate their love. Her state (dignity) calls for such worthy admiration.

But the tone changes in the next stanza as the speaker brings his love’s attention to their present situation. They live in the world which is finite and governed by time. He focuses on the grim realities of life in this stanza. He could hear ‘Time’s wingèd chariot hurrying near’. The time is fleeting and thus one should spend it carefully. The timelessness in the first stanza is contrasted to the finite, realities ruled by time in this stanza. The realms that are limitless meet up (are blended) with the realms with limits and boundaries. Deserts of vast eternity lie before them, which remind one of the end (death) that one cannot escape. The image of deserts and sand also refers to the sandglass or the hourglass that was used to measure time. After the death, all the beauty and other earthly qualities are insignificant and the lady love would cease to enjoy the lover’s song in her marble vault. Her body willl be feasted on by worms. Her chastity shall turn into dust and his lust will shall also burn him up. Finally they will have a place of their own, their tombs, but it would be of no use after their death.

The poet effectively uses imagery that presents the theme of mortality and the need to utilize the time on this Earth. The phallic reference of worms, the burning up of desires and the futility in dying a virgin, depict a morbid yet carnal image. Sir Herbert Grierson has commented on this stanza as “the very roof and crown of the metaphysical love lyric, at once fantastic and passionate.”

In the last stanza, the speaker proposes what ought to be done in order to prevent later regret. Their youth must be enjoyed and the speaker invites her to give into the bodily desires. Like two birds of prey engaged in love making, the speaker asks his lady love to consummate their love. The time that is devouring their life shall be reined in or be brought under control by making love. They shall roll up their passion and burst into the iron gates of life ruled by time. The speaker is describing the physical act of love making and how it can help in transcending the universe that is ruled by time. In the last lines the speaker believes that they could outrun the sun (indicating time) even though they cannot make him (sun) stand still. In the 17th century, the Sun was believed to revolve around the Earth. It was often seen as an enemy of lovers, as seen in Donne’s ‘Sun Rising’. Here also the speaker believes that he could defeat/ outrun time (denoted by the sun) when he is enthusiastically making love like birds of prey.

The poem deals with aspects of time and death while discussing the physicality of love. It celebrates the carpe diem spirit and explores the aspects of mortality and impermanence. The idea of growth and limitlessness in the first stanza gives way to ideas of extinction and deterioration in the second stanza. In the last stanza of the monologue, we can see both the pleasant and the grave elements in the previous stanzas blended (‘amorous birds of prey’ and ‘morning dew’) giving us a violent yet pleasurable image of love making.

The poem is written in Iambic Tetrameter, each line has 8 syllables (four feet, hence tetra). Each foot consists of an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable. It is composed in rhyming couplets. Except for lines 23 and 24 and lines 27 and 28, all the couplets rhyme.

Critical views on the poem

Eliot in his essay on Marvell says that Marvell is, “more a man of the century than a puritan, speaks more clearly and unequivocally with the voice of his literary age than does Milton” (Andrew Marvell 365). Eliot also comments on Marvell’s ‘To His Coy Mistress’ that his wit renews the theme that is very common in the European literature in the ‘variety and order’ of images. The wit in the poem according to Eliot is fused into imagination. The poem even though considered one of the best poems by Marvell, was excluded from some 19th century anthologies including that of Trench and Palgrave on account of its doubtful propriety. But it was in the same century when critics like Craik (1845) and Ormsby (1869) wrote in praise of the poem. George L. Craik observes (1845) that “there are few short poems in the language so remarkable for the union of grace and force and the easy and flowing transition from a light and playful tone to solemnity, passion and grandeur” (Andrew Marvell 187). H.J Massingham (1919) cites the poem as a perfect example of Marvell’s ‘witty delicacy’.

Eliot uses references from ‘To His Coy Mistress’ in ‘The Love Song of Alfred J. Prufrock’ and ‘The Waste Land’. Robert Penn Warren’s 1950 novel’s title, World Enough and Time, is inspired from the first lines of the poem. Many other 20th century novels also quote lines from the poem including Hemingway’s A Farewell to Arms.

 “An Horatian Ode upon Cromwell’s return from Ireland”: Summary and Analysis 

Oliver Cromwell, the military and political leader who later on became the Lord Protector of the Commonwealth, returned from conquering Ireland in May 1650, about a year after the execution of Charles I. Cromwell played an important role from the side of the ‘Roundheads’ or Parliamentarians in the English civil war, defeating the English Royalists. Cromwell’s victory was seen as a sign of God’s favour upon him. He dominated the English political scene till his death in 1658. He was later criticized for his harsh laws and the execution of Roman Catholics especially in Scotland and Ireland.

An Ode is a lyric poem which is devoted to praising an event, an object, animal or a person. It is named after the Roman poet Horace. It uses a regular, recurrent stanza pattern.

In the opening lines itself Marvell tells us that the ambitious youth must now leave their studies and stop languishing their time on other affairs. They must take out their armors and embark on military adventures. Then in line 9, he presents Cromwell as an adventure seeking spirit who could not rest or stay inactive. In the next lines he depicts Cromwell as a God-like person who can affect the cosmos and the stars and make his own destiny. It was a popular belief in the 17th century that the movement of the planets and alignment of the stars affected the fate of humans. He emerges like lightning that pierces through the clouds which produce it. Cromwell’s emergence into the English political power was violent and divisive. The allusion in these lines (13-16) is to Zeus emerging with his powerful thunderbolt. So it is not possible to hinder his triumphant journey nor contain his power. Those who imitate him and those who oppose him, both shall not be successful in overcoming him.

His victorious march led to the dethroning of the king. Lines 23-24 refer to the beheading of Charles I. Here Charles I is referred to as Caesar. It is foolish to stand against Cromwell, who holds Heaven’s flame in him. He has left behind his private comforts to give a new face to England, and for this the country owes him a huge debt. Cromwell has undone the great work of time, the age old monarchial rule. Even though justice and tradition are on the King’s side, it could not have withstood the force of Cromwell, and Charles I and Cromwell could never co- exist, as the lesser force will always have to give way to the superior one.

He bore the deepest scars in the civil war and the events in the Hampton place of Charles I show his ‘wiser art’. When the parliamentarians tried to negotiate with the King on the terms of his restoration, it is believed that Cromwell tricked him to escape to Caresbrook castle to have him executed. So he had mastered the Machiavellian arts of rule – craft and force. The royal ‘actor’ met his tragic end at the scaffold erected outside Whitehall where masques were produced. The king is being applauded by the murderers like an actor for his performance.

Now Marvell shifts his attention to Charles I, who does “nothing common” on the scaffold. He does not call upon God to avenge him nor does he lament on his tragic fate. He glances at the executioner’s axe and bows down his head as if onto his bed. The next line refers to the records of Pliny who writes about how a human head was found during the construction of the temple of Jupiter (Capitol) and how it was seen as a favorable omen for Rome. Capitol took its name from caput meaning head. So this execution might also herald in a ‘happy fate’ for England.

The attention is now shifted back to Cromwell. Ireland was put to shame after their defeat to Cromwell yet they would ‘affirm his praises’. He is good and just which can be testified to by  the Irish themselves. It is highly improbable as Cromwell was known for his brutal campaigns in Ireland. So Marvell must have written it ironically. Cromwell lays his victories at the feet of the citizens and obeys their will, like Julius Caesar. He is also compared to an obedient falcon that does not hunt unbidden. He is then compared to Caesar and Hannibal and next the ‘Picts’ (Scotland) shall tremble under Cromwell’s power, like a deer caught by the hounds. Caledonia is the Latin name for the northern part of Scotland. In the concluding lines, Marvell asks him to keep his sword erect to ward off the nether spirits. The final lines refer to the Machiavellian dictum that the power gained by force must be maintained through force.

Critical Views on the poem

Michael Schmidt has pointed out that the poem is popular because of Marvell’s finally unresolved attitude. Charles embodies right, Marvell respects him, while he admires Cromwell. It is considered one of the best and direct political poems in English. Matthew Arnold wrote in his letter to Sainte Beuve praising the poem as ‘beautiful and vigorous’. Many critics have noted that even in the eulogy of Cromwell, Marvell does picture Charles I in a sympathetic shade. Citing lines 25-36, A. C Benson writes, “This is the apotheosis of tyrants; it is the bloom of republicanism just flowering into despotism. But the Ode is no party utterance; the often quoted lines on the death of Charles, in their grave yet passionate dignity, might have been written by the most ardent of Royalists, and have often done service on their side. But indeed the whole  Ode is above party, and looks clearly into the heart and motives of man.” (257) Eliot lauds the poem for it is more than just a technical accomplishment and effectively uses wit, which he calls the, “tough reasonableness beneath the slight lyric grace.” (364) Lawrence W. Hyman observes, “It is [the] distinction between what men ought to do on an ideal plane and what men must do in the world of active political events that underlies the Horatian Ode”.

Life and times of Andrew Marvell

•  17th century poet and parliamentarian
•  Educated from Cambridge and was influenced by the foreign languages especially
•  Tutorship at Lord Fairfax’s Nun Appleton House- the period at the Fairfax house produced many
•  Friendship with Milton, helped him to escape prosecution after
•  In 1659, elected to Parliament from hometown Hull.
•  Wrote Prose satires, criticizing public
•  Poems were published posthumously in 1681, Miscellaneous Poems
•  He was more appreciated in the 20th century after the publication of Eliot’s and Grierson’s works on the metaphysical poets of the 17th

Text and analysis of ‘To His Coy Mistress’

•  The poem explores carpe diem through three stanzas that follow an ‘if …but… therefore…’ logic of
•  The poem can be seen as a dramatic monologue where an enthusiastic lover is addressing his bashful lady
•  He goes on to elucidate what all they would have done if they had enough time (pay attention to the usage of hyperboles in the first stanza).
•  The second stanza presents the lack of time and touches the theme of mortality and conveys the need of physical pleasures through grim and morbid
•  He proceeds into the next stanza effortlessly by inviting the mistress for sexual union like ‘amorous birds of prey’.
•  The lover completes his proposal by telling his mistress that they would make the sun run by actively indulging in the pleasures of love.

“An Horatian Ode” : Summary and Analysis

•  Cromwell is presented as an ambitious man with a god-like
•  He has returned victorious from his Irish
•  But the poet also depicts the nobility of the tragic king, Charles I, who was
•  Both Cromwell and Charles I are compared to Caesar at different times within the
•  Cromwell is just and good and he obeys the will of the
•  Now it is Scotland that will be trembling under the power of
• And the poet believes that the power gained through force must be maintained through force.

Points to ponder

• Can you find carpe diem themes in our contemporary culture (memes, internet poetry )?
• By praising both Cromwell and Charles what did Marvell achieve?
• Why would Marvell use the image of ‘birds of prey’ being amorous: what purpose does it serve?

Did You Know ?

• That the Horatian Ode has been “read both as a straightforward encomium of Cromwell and as an ironic deprecation”
• That “Upon Appleton House” is one of the early examples of the countryhouse poem
• That “To his Coy Mistress” is as much about death as it is about love and lovemaking?

Reference

• Andrew Marvell: Poet, Puritan, Patriot by P. Legouis
• The Art of Marvell’s Poetry by J.B Leishman
• Selected Essays by T.S Eliot
• Andrew Marvell: The Critical Heritage. Ed. Elizabeth Story Donno