Why is Andrew Marvell Such A Noted Figure in English Literature/History?

[astrum]

I know that he wrote several good poems, but why does he get more acclaim than other poets?

Did he do anything special--other than save Milton from being persecuted?


In short, I'm still not entirely sure what Marvell's legacy is.....

[OrphanPip]

Transitional figures tend to be of interest to critics because they draw attention to the historical development of literature, Marvell bridges the gap between the Renaissance and the post-civil war poets. He wrote in the major styles of the Renaissance, like the country house poem, and his later works gestures towards the rise of neoclassicism.

[MorpheusSandman]

I think there are a lot of different reasons for Marvell's reputation. One is that he aptly demonstrated the qualities that Eliot found in the metaphysical poets, namely the "dissociation of sensibility" and emphasis on witty craftsmanship over the philosophical reflection dominant in the 19th century. Marvell was also heavily entangled in politics, so a poem like An Horatian Ode on Cromwell's Return is an example par excellence of literature's ambiguous relationship with history and contemporary events (this ambiguity became a major focus of, eg, The New Critics of the 20th century). To His Coy Mistress superbly demonstrates the traditions of the carpe diem seduction poem while introducing complexity via its potential irony and metaphors that complicate its superficial simplicity. As OphanPip says, he was also a transitional figure whose work blends a lot of different "schools" of poetry, from the Cavaliers to the Metaphysics to the latter Classicists, incorporating the technical grace of first, the wit/complexity of the second, and the satire and irony of the third. Marvell, in essence, provides good fodder for any brand of critic/theorist, whether formalist, historian, feminist, religious, political, etc.

[ennison]

That's a very succinct account of Marvell.