Andrew Marvell - Pastoral and Lyric Poems 1681

by David Ormerod

When Andrew Marvell died in 1678, virtually none of his lyric poetry had been published. In 1681, his housekeeper, Mary Palmer claimed to be his widow in order to be able to have the Folio Miscellaneous Poems published. The 1681 Folio is almost certainly corrupt, yet virtually all modern editions of Marvell follow it extremely closely. This new edition incorporates many new readings, and argues for a radical revaluation of the Folio text. It omits the satirical works and prints only the thirty two poems for which Marvell is chiefly read today. Detailed notes and introductory material locate Marvell and his poems within the main intellectual and political currents of his time, providing a window for the modern reader into Marvell's mental world. The extensive bibliography will be indispensable to students and specialists in the literature and thought of the English Renaissance.

Genres: Poetry

337 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1999

About the author

Professor David Omerod QC (Hon)

Reviews

[Michael]

If you were to see this book and think that it's just the corrected text of the 1681 Folio of Marvell's work, you would be mistaken. This book is a total crash course in 16th and 17th century thought. The general introduction, the introduction to each thematic grouping of poems, and footnotes to the poetry texts are rich with elucidations of Marvell's personal history, the English civil war era, literary allusions both classical and contemporary (to Marvell), as well touching on topics as diverse as millennialism, gardens, and hieroglyphs. There is a section in the introduction that is a deep dive into esoteric Renaissance thought, hermeticism in particular, that is as good as overview on the topic as I've ever read. All this is buttressed by an extensive bibliography that can take you in many different directions, whether its Marvell's work, 17th century poetry, or the Renaissance world and thought more generally. The poems are pretty good too!

[Maya · Rating 2 out of 5]

Studying Andrew Marvell? Pick this up.

Not studying Marvell? Keep looking.

Half this book is biographic, historical and literary notes and essays. They are extremely academic and difficult to read, and serve no purpose to those who only wish to read Marvell's poems (rather than dissect them).

Favourite Poems (in alphabetical order):
"The Garden"
"The Mower Against Gardens"
"Ros" (Direct translation (begins with You see how a tiny jewel of dew descends), NOT the poem "On A Drop of Dew")
"To His Coy Mistress"
"Upon Appelton House" (Parts 2, 13, 65, 66, 68, 71, 87, 88)