English
Stephanie Fuchs
Marvell's 'Horatian Ode' as a Political Poem
Seminar paper
Literaturwissenschaftliches Hauptseminar SS 04
17 th and 18 th Century English Poetry
Institut für Anglistik/Amerikanistik Universität Graz
MARVELL’S ‚HORATIAN ODE’ AS A
POLITICAL POEM
Seminar Paper
By
FUCHS STEPHANIE
Table of Contents
I.
INTRODUCTION
1
II.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
3
III.
ANDREW MARVELL: LIFE AND DEVELOPMENT
OF POLITICAL THINKING
III.i. POETIC THEMES AND LITERARY INFLUENCES
4
5
III.ii. HORACE: ANDREW MARVELL’S LITERARY AND
INTELLECTUAL MODEL
IV.
7
THE “HORATIAN ODE” AS A POLITICAL POEM
IV.i. CROMWELL AND THE PRESENT MOMENT: ADMIRATION OR
CONDEMNATION?
IV.ii. THE KILLING OF CHARLES - A NECESSARY BLOOD SACRIFICE?
9
12
IV.iii. CROMWELL’S EMERGENCE AS A NEW LEADER: DRAMATIC
PERSPECTIVES AND PROPHECIES
14
V.
CONCLUSION
19
VI.
WORKS CITED
21
APPENDIX
I. Introduction
The relationship of poetry to history is a most important one, since poems arise out of the
process of history and are written by men who are living in that process. Andrew Marvell’s
Horatian Ode upon Cromwell’s Return from Ireland undoubtedly is a poem of great artistry,
but above all it provides an excellent example for political poetry of seventeenth century
Great Britain. Since Marvell’s poem deals with historical figures and comments on a
historical occasion, there is a temptation to see the poem merely as a historical document. But
while it is generally recognized that the poem provides a historical account of the period, it is
indeed quite complex and by no means free of political judgement. As Brooks and Warren put
in their essay on the poem, “distinguishing between a poem as a work of art and a poem as a
historical document seems necessary in order to explore the intimate relationship between
them” (1950: 165).
While the prosodic majesty and metrical poise of Marvell’s poem has sustained universal
acclaim among critics, the attention of most students of Marvell’s Horatian Ode has been
directed towards questions about the political ideologies expressed in the poem. We know that
Marvell was not only a poet but also a political figure, but there is still no real consensus as to
what Marvell’s political attitudes were ‘really’ like. The ambiguous political views and
attitudes Marvell held throughout his lifetime seem to correspond with the political ambiguity
in the Horatian Ode. Critics such as David Norbrook argue that the Horatian Ode “clearly
expresses great political commitment to Oliver Cromwell” (1990: 153), while other
interpretations stress that the Ode is quite explicit in its Royalist bias. Based on these
readings, the question arises whether assuming that Marvell approves or disapproves of
Cromwell in an ultimate sense would not mean to over-simplify the meaning of the poem.
In the following paper, I will attempt to find out about the poem’s engagement with the
politics of its moment, the summer of 1650. I want to approach the Horatian Ode by means of
an excursus devoted to the manner in which Marvell reflects on the historical occasion of
Charles’s beheading and Cromwell’s subjugation of Ireland. Specifically, I will attempt to
show that the poem expresses a highly ambivalent and ironic attitude, and that both Royalist
principles and admiration for Cromwell’s achievement s are present in the poem.
1