Andrew Marvell

Andrew Marvell (1621-1678), English poet and satirist, one of the metaphysical poets. He was born in Winestead, Yorkshire, and educated at the University of Cambridge. While tutor to the daughter of Lord Thomas Fairfax, he wrote the well-known lyric works “The Garden,””To His Coy Mistress,””The Definition of Love,” and “Bermudas.” Marvell's works often weigh conflicting values, such as introspection versus action, or nature versus society. As assistant to John Milton (who was serving as Latin secretary for the Commonwealth) from 1657 to 1659, he wrote many poems in praise of the Lord Protector of England, Oliver Cromwell, notably “Horatian Ode upon Cromwell's Return from Ireland,” considered by some to be one of the great political poems. From 1659 until his death, Marvell served in Parliament; his letters to constituents reveal much about his times.

Marvell's prose satire, little read today, was once considered wittier than his verse. His bitter verses against the corruption of the monarchy include “Last Instructions to a Painter” (1667), “Britannia and Raleigh,” and “Poem on the Statue in the Stocks Market” (1672). In his own day, Marvell was virtually unknown as a lyric poet but renowned as a satirist and patriot. His reputation has grown as critics have discovered Marvell's intellectually rigorous and finely balanced lyric verse.