He is known chiefly for his brilliant lyric poems, including "The Garden," "The Definition of Love," "Bermudas," "To His Coy Mistress," and the "Horatian Ode" to Cromwell. Marvell's work is marked by extraordinary variety, ranging from incomparable lyric explorations of the inner life to satiric poems on the famous men and important issues of his time-one of the most politically volatile epochs in England's history. From the lover's famous admonition, "Had we but World enough, and Time, / This coyness, Lady, were no crime," to the image of the solitary poet "Annihilating all that's made / To a green Thought in a green Shade," Marvell's poetry has earned a permanent place in the canon and in the hearts of poetry lovers.
First Published in 1966, The Art of Marvell's Poetry presents J.B. Leishman’s appreciation of Andrew Marvell’s poems by demonstrating a sensitive understanding of attitudes peculiar to the seventeenth century and to Marvell. Leishman calls Marvell an "inveterate imitator and experimenter". His success depended on originality of combination rather than originality of invention. But while such phrases as "Musick, the Mosaique of the Air,’’ "Desarts of vast Eternity,"- and "a green Thought in a green shade" were certainly inspired by others, they are distinctively and unquestionably Marvell’s own. Marvell’s poetry is shown to be the work of a man living at a certain moment in history; it is poetry which could not have been written at any other time, and its affinities to the work of contemporary poets are clearly demonstrated. The Art of Marvell's Poetry is a must read for scholars and researchers of English poetry, English literature, and European literature.
The latest edition to the Longman Annotated English Poets series is a complete works of the seventeenth century poet, Andrew Marvell. Marvell's poetry is renowned for its irony, subtlety and allusiveness and Nigel Smith shows how such literary qualities were developed and the various ways in which the complexity of meanings may be interpreted. The aim of this book is to present through commentary and annotation, a full historical and literary context to Marvell's poetry and it does so in its comprehensive and accurately balanced scholarship.
The Poems of Andrew Marvell With an introduction and notes by G.A. Aitken Letters Translated by A. B Grosart Most of Marvell's poems on political subjects doubtless appeared as broadsides or pamphlets at the time they were written; but of these original issues one only is known to have survived. "The Character of Holland," written in 1653, printed early, probably, in that year, appears to have been reprinted, in folio, in 1665, with the omission of the latter portion, in which praise was given to Blake and other commanders of the Commonwealth. This mutilated version was again printed, in quarto, in 1672. "The first Anniversary of the Government under his Highness the Lord Protector" was printed, in quarto, by Thomas Newcomb, London, in 1665. "Advice to a Painter" was printed as a four-page folio sheet, without date, but apparently in 1679, after Marvell's death. It is not necessary to justify any effort to make Marvell's Poems more widely known. The sole object of this Preface is to acknowledge my indebtedness to my predecessors, who have, in a greater or less degree, done good service by keeping the poet's name and character in the minds of his countrymen. In 1681, more than two years after Marvell's death, his widow published a collection of his miscellaneous poems. Nearly half a century later Cooke brought out an edition which included the political satires. These pieces could not, of course, be given in the volume of 1681, but they had been printed among other State Poems after the Revolution. Another half century passed before Thompson published an edition of the whole of Marvell's works. Thompson was a Hull captain, and a connection of the poet's family, filled with enthusiasm for his subject, but wanting in the critical training necessary for complete success. In spite, however, of all his shortcomings, it is not to be forgotten that we owe to him some of Marvell's finest poems, and that he was the first to print a large number of Marvell's letters, which are of great assistance in studying his life and writings. Errors in the text grew in number in subsequent cheap editions of the poems, until, in 1872, a century after Thompson, and when I was a scholar at the old Granmiar School at Hull which claimed Marvell as one of its most distinguished pupils, Dr. Grosart published the first volume of a limited edition of Marvell's works. It may be said that that edition was the first in which any serious attempt was made to give an accurate text, or to explain the constant allusions to contemporary events. But greatly as I have been indebted to Dr. Grosarfs work, much remained to be done. Many allusions remained unexplained, while some of the notes upon historical events or persons were written under misapprehension, and the errors in identification led to mistakes in the dating of the poems. In so difficult a field it is not probable that I have entirely escaped pitfalls; and I do not forget that it is far easier to correct others than to be a pioneer.
The great seventeenth-century metaphysical poet Andrew Marvell was one of the chief wits and satirists of his time as well as a passionate defender of individual liberty. Today, however, he is known chiefly for his brilliant lyric poems, including “The Garden,” “The Definition of Love,” “Bermudas,” “To His Coy Mistress,” and the “Horatian Ode” to Cromwell. Marvell’s work is marked by extraordinary variety, ranging from incomparable lyric explorations of the inner life to satiric poems on the famous men and important issues of his time–one of the most politically volatile epochs in England’s history. From the lover’s famous admonition, “Had we but World enough, and Time, / This coyness, Lady, were no crime,” to the image of the solitary poet “Annihilating all that’s made / To a green Thought in a green Shade,” Marvell’s poetry has earned a permanent place in the canon and in the hearts of poetry lovers.
A comprehensive edition of one of America's greatest poets, this collection draws from her four published volumes, together with 50 uncollected works and translations of Octavio Paz, Max Jacob and others.
Intellectual power and subtlety are as important to a definition of Marvell's style as grace of feeling, says the author of this highly original study, which illuminates the philosophical character of the poetry by exploring the ways of Marvell's imagination. Originally published in 1970. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.
