Marvell, Andrew

Marvell, Andrew
born March 31, 1621, Winestead, Yorkshire, Eng.
died Aug. 18, 1678, London

English poet and politician.

He was employed as a tutor, including to Oliver Cromwell's ward, before becoming an assistant to John Milton in the foreign office in 1657. From 1659 he held a seat in Parliament. His reputation as one of the finest secular Metaphysical poets (see Metaphysical poetry) is based on a small body of brilliant lyric verse, notably "To His Coy Mistress" (1681) and "The Garden." Among his other works are classical odes, such as "An Horatian Ode upon Cromwell's Return from Ireland" (1650); political verse satires opposing the government after the Restoration, such as Last Instructions to a Painter (1667); and prose satires.

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▪ English poet

born March 31, 1621, Winestead, Yorkshire, Eng.
died Aug. 18, 1678, London

      English poet whose political reputation overshadowed that of his poetry until the 20th century. He is now considered to be one of the best Metaphysical poets.

      Marvell was educated at Hull grammar school and Trinity College, Cambridge, taking a B.A. in 1639. His father's death in 1641 may have ended Marvell's promising academic career. He was abroad for at least five years (1642–46), presumably as a tutor. In 1651–52 he was tutor to Mary, daughter of Lord Fairfax, the Parliamentary general, at Nun Appleton, Yorkshire, during which time he probably wrote his notable poems “Upon Appleton House” and “The Garden” as well as his series of Mower poems.

      Although earlier opposed to Oliver Cromwell's (Cromwell, Oliver) Commonwealth government, he wrote “An Horatian Ode upon Cromwell's Return from Ireland” (1650), and from 1653 to 1657 he was a tutor to Cromwell's ward William Dutton. In 1657 he became assistant to John Milton as Latin secretary in the foreign office. “The First Anniversary” (1655) and “On the Death of O.C.” (1659) showed his continued and growing admiration for Cromwell. In 1659 he was elected member of Parliament for Hull, an office he held until his death, serving skillfully and effectively.

      After the restoration of Charles II in 1660, Marvell turned to political verse satires—the most notable was Last Instructions to a Painter, against Lord Clarendon, Charles's lord chancellor—and prose political satire, notably The Rehearsal Transpros'd (1672–73). Marvell is also said to have interceded on behalf of Milton to have him freed from prison in 1660. He wrote a commendatory poem for the second edition of Milton's Paradise Lost. His political writings favoured the toleration of religious dissent and attacked the abuse of monarchical power.

      At Marvell's death, his housekeeper-servant Mary Palmer claimed to be his widow, although this was undoubtedly a legal fiction. The first publication of his poems in 1681 resulted from a manuscript volume she found among his effects.

      While Marvell's political reputation has faded and his reputation as a satirist is on a par with others of his time, his small body of lyric poems, first recommended in the 19th century by Charles Lamb, has since appealed to many readers, and in the 20th century he came to be considered one of the most notable poets of his century. Marvell was eclectic: his “To His Coy Mistress” is a classic of Metaphysical poetry; the Cromwell odes are the work of a classicist; his attitudes are sometimes those of the elegant Cavalier poets; and his nature poems resemble those of the Puritan Platonists. In “To His Coy Mistress,” which is one of the most famous poems in the English language, the impatient poet urges his mistress to abandon her false modesty and submit to his embraces before time and death rob them of the opportunity to love:

Had we but world enough, and time,
This coyness, lady, were no crime. . . .
But at my back I always hear
Time's wingéd chariot hurrying near;
And yonder all before us lie
Deserts of vast eternity . . .
The grave's a fine and private place,
But none, I think, do there embrace. . . .

Additional Reading
The standard text is H.M. Margoliouth (ed.), The Poems and Letters of Andrew Marvell, 3rd rev. ed., 2 vol. (1971). The standard edition of The Rehearsal Transpros'd was edited by D.I.B. Smith (1971). Studies of his life and works include Pierre Legouis, Andrew Marvell: Poet, Puritan, Patriot, 2nd ed. (1968); Hilton Kelliher, Andrew Marvell: Poet and Politician (1978); John Dixon Hunt, Andrew Marvell (1978); and Annabel M. Patterson, Marvell and the Civic Crown (1978).

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  • Marvell, Andrew — (1621 1678)    He was born at Winestead in Holderness, Yorkshire, was educated under his father at the grammar school in Hull, graduated from Trinity College, Cambridge, in 1637, and left sometime before September 1641. He traveled in Europe,… …   British and Irish poets

  • Marvell,Andrew — Mar·vell (märʹvəl), Andrew. 1621 1678. English metaphysical poet whose frequently satirical work includes the poems “To His Coy Mistress” (1650) and “The Definition of Love” (1681). * * * …   Universalium

  • Marvell, Andrew — ► (1621 78) Escritor inglés, partidario de Cromwell. Autor de Últimas instrucciones a un pintor. * * * (31 mar. 1621, Winestead, Yorkshire, Inglaterra–18 ago. 1678, Londres). Poeta y político inglés. Se ganó la vida como tutor, entre otros del… …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • MARVELL, ANDREW —    poet and politician, born at Worcester; was first a lyric poet, and in politics much of a Royalist, at last a violent politician on the Puritan side, having become connected with Milton and Cromwell; he wrote a tract On the Growth of Popery… …   The Nuttall Encyclopaedia

  • Marvell, Andrew — (1621 1678)    Poet and satirist, s. of the Rector of Winestead, Yorkshire, where he was b., ed. Camb., and thereafter travelled in various Continental countries. He sat in Parliament for Hull, proving himself an assiduous and incorruptible… …   Short biographical dictionary of English literature

  • Marvell — Marvell, Andrew …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • Andrew Marvell — Saltar a navegación, búsqueda Andrew Marvell Andrew Marvell nació el 31 de marzo de 1621 en Winestead in Holderness, Yorkshire; y falleció el 16 de agosto de 1678 en su casa en Great Russell Street, Bloomsbury, a la edad de 57 años. Poeta,… …   Wikipedia Español

  • Andrew Marvell — (* 31. März 1621 in Winestead bei Patrington, Holderness, Yorkshire; † 16. August 1678 in London) war ein englischer Dichter und Politiker. Er gilt neben John Donne und George Herbert als einer …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Andrew Marvell — Activités Poète et homme politique Naissance 31 mars 1621 Winestead …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Andrew Marvell — noun English poet (1621 1678) • Syn: ↑Marvell • Instance Hypernyms: ↑poet * * * Andrew Marvell [Andrew Marvell] …   Useful english dictionary

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