Andrew Marvell (part 2)
#SUBHEADING#A conscientious MP#SUBHEADINGEND# Marvell was a very professional MP for Hull and was continually corresponding with constituents and local businesses and campaigned on behalf of Hull Corporation in matters of wine licenses, excise and the discouragement of foreign shipping. #SUBHEADING#Parliamentarian or Royalist?#SUBHEADINGEND# Marvell's political loyalties are difficult to assess. After Cromwell's death in 1658 and the collapse of the Protectorate, Marvell was re-elected as MP for Hull under the restoration government and remained MP until his death in 1678. With both Parliamentarian and Royalist friends he wrote from both perspectives including his sensitive treatment of King Charles' Execution in 'Horatio Ode' and verses against the corruption of the monarchy. #SUBHEADING#Metaphysical poet#SUBHEADINGEND# Marvell is often referred to as a metaphysical poet, meaning he used wit and unusual metaphors to make his point. His anonymous prose satires criticizing the Monarchy and Catholicism show that he was clearly adept at political manoeuvring and working with the current system, and he was instrumental in saving Milton from an extended jail sentence and possible execution after the restoration. #SUBHEADING#Controversial to the end#SUBHEADINGEND# Despite his poetry and his adept political life, we actually know very little about Marvell's personality or appearance. The only contemporary account describes him as "of middling stature, pretty strong set, roundish faced, cherry cheeked, [with] hazel eye[s]". Surprisingly for a poet, he was claimed to be a man of few words, but on the rare occasions he spoke out in Parliament he often spoke with violent emotion. He also had a fondness for wine, although preferred not to drink in company, but alone to "refresh his spirits and exalt his muse". #SUBHEADING#Mysterious death and financial controversy#SUBHEADINGEND# Marvell died suddenly in August 1678 of tertiary ague, an erratic fever that would attack on alternate days. The suddenness of his death sparked suspicions that he had been poisoned by the Jesuits (one of the groups Marvell satirised in his prose), but as his work was published anonymously, this seems unlikely. A book of his poetry was published in 1681 by a Mary Palmer, who claimed to be his wife by secret marriage in 1667. She was actually his landlady attempting to prevent the small estate left by Marvell going to his business associates creditors. #SUBHEADING#Legacy#SUBHEADINGEND# Marvell's political career overshadowed his poetry for nearly 200 years. Apart from "The First Anniversary" (1655) to mark Cromwell's first year of rule, Marvell didn't publish any named works in his life time; and no poetry in his own hand survives. After his death, his poetic and literary style was going out of fashion, and it wasn't until the mid Victorian period that his work began to be read more widely, and not until the early 20th century that he was recognised as a great lyrical poet. In 1921 Hull celebrated the tercentenary of his birth with city wide celebrations, and Hull University published a book of essays on tercentenary of his death in 1979. A statue of Andrew Marvell can be found in Trinity Square, outside the Old Grammar School that he attended as a child.
Andrew Marvell (part 1)
Andrew Marvell is known as a great poet and politician of his time. Locally he is viewed as a prominent historical figure and his most famous poem, 'To His Coy Mistress' has been hailed as one of the most searching seductive poems in the English language. Read about his early life and his entry into the wolrd of politics and poetry.
