ANDREW MARVELL

Discuss the Metaphysical elements in the poetry of Marvell

OR
Describe the main feature s of Marvell’s Poetry.
OR
Discuss Andrew Marvell as Metaphysical poet.
Answer:

The poetry of Andrew Marvell shows many qualities that are associated with what has come to
be known as metaphysical poetry. In the first place, several of Marvell‟s poems have
metaphysical themes such as the relation of the human soul to the body, to this world and to the
world beyond.

A number of his poems show that fusion of thought and feeling which is a distinctive mark of
metaphysical poetry. Next there is an abundance of conceits of the metaphysical sort in his
poems. Much of the imagery too, in his poetry is of the learned kind and it is characterized also
by that vividness and concreteness which are among the marks of metaphysical poetry. Then
some of his poems have abrupt openings and also show a dramatic quality.

Finally Marvell‟s poetry is characterized by a terseness of style, which is indeed a very striking
feature of the metaphysical poetry.

Metaphysical poetry shows a peculiar blend of passion and thought. Many of the lyrics of
Marvell, while expressing fairly strong emotions, have at the same time an intellectual character.
These poems have an argumentative quality and the argument proceeds in a logical manner. The
most outstanding example of this is the poem To His Coy Mistress. Here the poet becomes
passionate in his expression of feeling towards the end, but the whole poem is based upon a
logically developed line of reasoning. In fact, this poem has a syllogistic structure: „if‟, „but‟,
„therefore‟. This poem is thus a clear example of what has been described as passionate thinking.

Marvell‟s poetry abounds in wit and metaphysical conceits. The word „wit‟ in this context,
means the putting together of discordant or heterogeneous ideas. A metaphysical conceit is
distinguished by ingenuity. Such a conceit astonishes us by unexpected comparison.

One of the examples of such a comparison is to be found in Marvell‟s poem „Eyes and Tears‟
where the tears are compared to “watery lines and plummets.”

One of the wittiest conceits is to be found in „To His Coy Mistress‟ when the poet employs
hyperbole and says that he would spend hundreds and thousands of years in praising the various
limbs and organs of his mistress‟s body. Indeed, there is no end to the use of metaphysical
conceits by Marvell. The poem „Upon Appleton House‟ is full of them.
Marvell‟s poetry is remarkable for the terseness of its style. Marvell shows a rare talent for
condensation and compression. In many poems, there are lines which have an epigrammatic
quality. In „The Nymph Complaining‟, we have following two lines with reference to the dead
fawn:

“Had it lived long, it would have been lilies without, roses within.”

In the poem „To His Coy Mistress‟, the following two lines have a similar epigrammatic quality:

“The grave’s a fine and private place,

But none, I think, do there embrace.”

In „The Garden‟ again, we have examples of the highly condensed epigrammatic style. For
instance:

1) “Society is all but rude

To this delicious Solitude.”

2) “Two paradises’t were in one

To live in paradise alone.”

Marvell produced some of the most perfect poems in the language but he is, for all that,
somehow, not a major poet. For all the subtlety and accomplishment of his writing, he was,
essentially one of the last products of the Metaphysical school but still too much part of it to be
quite able to go forward to the kind of poetry that followed. He is, in a way, the school of Donne
in miniature, working in all the variations of that style. In „To His Coy Mistress‟ and „The
Definition of Love‟ he wrote like Donne. In „The Coronet‟ and „Eyes and Tears‟, he is largely a
follower of Herbert. „The March‟, „The Fair Singer‟, and „The Picture of Little T.C.‟ are like
Carew and Lovelace, „Upon Appleton House‟ is heavily influenced by Cleveland. „A Dialogue
between the Resolved Soul and the Created Pleasure‟ has something of the formal stance of
Cowley. His pastoral poems have behind them an Elizabethan and continental tradition. „The
Nymph Complaining for the Death of Her Fawn‟ sounds like a kind of pastoral classical
Crashaw.

And he went on to write political satires in rhymed couplets. In none of these poems was he a
mere imitator; he always re-handled his themes and styles in a peculiarly original way. But the
variety and varied perfection of his work show, that he was, in terms of technical
accomplishments, the most professional of that extraordinary group of amateurs who made up
the school of Donne. According to one critic, Marvell is apart from Milton, the most interesting
personality between Donne and Dryden and at his very best, a finer poet that either of them.

---------------------