political and pastoral in marvells poetry :: essays research papers

A tension between the worlds of policy-making engagement and private retreatHow distinct are the political and the pastoral in Marvells poetryThe political and the pastoral certainly figures highly in Marvells poetry and often the two worlds become intertwined. Indeed, Marvell frequently utilises metaphors of nature to help bring and rationalise his political thoughts and feelings. With particular reference to the mower and Cromwell rimes, I shall explore the relationship between the political and the pastoral in his work.To begin, in the overtly political poem An Horation Ode upon Cromwells return from Ireland, Marvell begins by describing Cromwell emerging from a muses shadow, and private gardens, Where he lived reserved and austere. This, as the critic Friedman asserts, is a natural retreat of poetic creativity, and one often employed by Marvell. Indeed, in A poem upon the death of his late Highnesse the Lord Protector, Marvell presents a boyish Cromwell spending pleasing ho urs with his mother. The addition of a private presentation of Cromwell lends him a more human edge and helps us to understand his human weaknesses. In his Horation Ode, Marvell portrays Cromwell as a flame of angry heavens who tis madness to resist or blame. This lends Cromwell a godlike eminence or as Thomas. M. Greene asserts, puts him beyond good categories. However, Marvell continues that the same arts that did gain a power, must it maintain, i.e. the inglorious arts of war. The irony of comparing war, something primarily destructive, as an art, highlights the unease and possibly brief nature of Cromwells rule. Certainly, the fact that Marvell likens Cromwell to a Falcon, who once having killd seeks a green bough to perch on and then the falconer has her sure, shows that although he is strong, he cannot continue forever and will eventually be in some way controlled. Therefore, by utilising the idea of natural retreat, Marvell subtly asserts beneath the marvellous verse, the frailty and humanity of Cromwell existence.Indeed the idea of the green bough, is a recurring notion in marvels poetry, and is often Connected with thought and retreat. In the epic poem Upon Appleton House Marvell seeks sanctuary in the woodland to among the trees and birds confer. This is something that the critic Friedman asserts as the primeval unity of mind and nature. This is amply supported by the puff in Damon The mower, My mind was once a true survey of all these meadows fresh and gay, and further more