Andrew Marvell

An Horatian Ode upon Cromwel's Return from Ireland

Horace's Retirement Ode

Horace wrote odes celebrating Augustus's retirement to private life. Marvell uses the form to praise the opposite—Cromwell leaving retirement for war.

The forward Youth that would appear
Must now forsake his Muses dear,
Nor in the Shadows sing
His Numbers languishing.
'Tis time to leave the Books in dust,
And oyl th' unused Armours rust:
Removing from the Wall
The Corslet of the Hall.
So restless Cromwel could not cease
In the inglorious Arts of Peace,
But through adventrous War
Urged his active Star.
And, like the three-fork'd Lightning, first
Breaking the Clouds where it was nurst,
Did through his own Side

Breaking His Own Side

Cromwell first fought against his own class—the gentry and Parliament's moderates. Lightning destroys the cloud that births it.

His fiery way divide.
For 'tis all one to Courage high
The Emulous or Enemy;
And with such to inclose
Is more then to oppose.
Then burning through the Air he went,
And Pallaces and Temples rent:

Caesar = Charles I

The laurel crown was worn by Roman emperors. Cromwell 'blasted' through Charles's royal authority to execute him.

And Cæsars head at last
Did through his Laurels blast.
'Tis Madness to resist or blame
The force of angry Heavens flame:
And, if we would speak true,
Much to the Man is due.
Who, from his private Gardens, where
He liv'd reserved and austere,
As if his hightest plot
To plant the Bergamot,

Bergamot Pears

Cromwell really did retire to garden before the Civil War. The bergamot is a delicate pear—maximum contrast with destroying kingdoms.

Could by industrious Valour climbe
To ruine the great Work of Time,
And cast the Kingdome old
Into another Mold.
Though Justice against Fate complain,
And plead the antient Rights in vain:

Might Makes Right

Ancient rights (monarchy's claim) lose to current force. Marvell states this as natural law, not moral judgment.

But those do hold or break
As Men are strong or weak.
Nature that hateth emptiness,
Allows of penetration less:
And therefore must make room
Where greater Spirits come.
What Field of all the Civil Wars,
Where his were not the deepest Scars?
And Hampton shows what part

Hampton Court Trap

Cromwell negotiated with Charles at Hampton Court in 1647, then let him 'escape' to Carisbrooke Castle where he was trapped.

He had of wiser Art.
Where, twining subtile fears with hope,
He wove a Net of such a scope,
That Charles himself might chase
To Caresbrooks narrow case.

Charles as Actor

Marvell shifts focus to Charles's dignified execution. 'Actor' means both theatrical performer and one who acts—Charles plays his role perfectly.

That thence the Royal Actor born
The Tragick Scaffold might adorn:
While round the armed Bands
Did clap their bloody hands.
He nothing common did or mean
Upon that memorable Scene:
But with his keener Eye
The Axes edge did try:

Testing the Axe

Charles actually did test the axe blade's sharpness before execution. The 'keener Eye' suggests he saw more clearly than his executioners.

Nor call'd the Gods with vulgar spight
To vindicate his helpless Right,
But bow'd his comely Head,
Down as upon a Bed.
This was that memorable Hour
Which first assur'd the forced Pow'r.
So when they did design
The Capitols first Line,

Roman Foundation Myth

When digging Rome's Capitol foundation, workers found a bleeding head (caput). Priests said it meant Rome would be head of the world.

A bleeding Head where they begun,
Did fright the Architects to run;
And yet in that the State
Foresaw it's happy Fate.
And now the Irish are asham'd
To see themselves in one Year tam'd:

Ireland in One Year

Cromwell's 1649-50 Irish campaign was brutally efficient. Marvell wrote this in 1650 upon Cromwell's return.

So much one Man can do,
That does both act and know.
They can affirm his Praises best,
And have, though overcome, confest
How good he is, how just,
And fit for highest Trust:
Nor yet grown stiffer with Command,
But still in the Republick's hand:
How fit he is to sway
That can so well obey.
He to the Common Feet presents
A Kingdome, for his first years rents:
And, what he may, forbears
His Fame to make it theirs:
And has his Sword and Spoyls ungirt,
To lay them at the Publick's skirt.
So when the Falcon high
Falls heavy from the Sky,
She, having kill'd, no more does search,
But on the next green Bow to pearch;
Where, when he first does lure,

Falcon and Falconer

A trained falcon returns to the falconer's lure after killing. Is Cromwell the obedient falcon or the one holding the lure?

The Falckner has her sure.
What may not then our Isle presume
While Victory his Crest does plume!
What may not others fear
If thus he crown each Year!
A Cæsar he ere long to Gaul,
To Italy an Hannibal,
And to all States not free
Shall Clymacterick be.

Climacteric Year

A climacteric is a critical year (usually a multiple of seven). Cromwell will be the crisis-point for unfree states.

The Pict no shelter now shall find

The Painted Pict

Ancient Picts painted themselves. 'Party-coloured Mind' = the wavering Scots who sometimes backed Charles, sometimes Parliament.

Within his party-colour'd Mind;
But from this Valour sad
Shrink underneath the Plad:
Happy if in the tufted brake
The English Hunter him mistake;
Nor lay his Hounds in near
The Caledonian Deer.
But thou the Wars and Fortunes Son
March indefatigably on;
And for the last effect
Still keep thy Sword erect:

Sword as Talisman

An upright sword wards off evil spirits in folklore. Cromwell must stay armed—the methods that won power must maintain it.

Besides the force it has to fright
The Spirits of the shady Night,
The same Arts that did gain
A Pow'r must it maintain.
Source Wikipedia Poetry Foundation

Reading Notes

The Poem's Central Ambiguity

This is the most politically ambiguous poem in English. Marvell was a republican who later served Cromwell, but in 1650 his allegiances were unclear. The poem appears to praise Cromwell—yet every compliment contains a barb.

'Inglorious Arts of Peace' sounds dismissive of Cromwell's pre-war retirement, but Horace (the poem's model) celebrated peaceful retirement as the highest good. 'Ruine the great Work of Time' means destroying the ancient monarchy; 'ruin' isn't neutral. When Marvell says 'Much to the Man is due,' he's just admitted it's 'Madness to resist'—that's fear talking, not admiration.

The Charles I passage (lines 53-72) is the tell. Marvell gives the executed king 24 lines of dignified, sympathetic portrayal. Charles does 'nothing common did or mean,' tests the axe with a 'keener Eye,' and dies like a martyr. Meanwhile Cromwell's soldiers 'clap their bloody hands' like a mob at a theater. The word 'forced Pow'r' (line 66) is devastating—Cromwell's power is illegitimate, obtained by force.

The falcon metaphor (lines 91-96) encodes the poem's deepest anxiety. A falcon hunts for the falconer and returns to his lure—it's trained, obedient, controlled. Marvell claims Cromwell is this obedient servant of the Republic. But falcons are predators. The metaphor asks: who really controls whom? The final lines answer: 'The same Arts that did gain / A Pow'r must it maintain.' Translation: Cromwell took power by force and must rule by force. He cannot disarm. This is a warning disguised as advice.

What Marvell Is Doing Technically

CONTEXT The 'Horatian Ode' was a classical form praising military victory and advocating retirement to private life. Horace wrote odes urging Augustus to stop conquering and enjoy peace. Marvell uses this form to describe the opposite: a private man leaving peace for conquest. The form itself is ironic.

Marvell writes in tetrameter couplets (eight syllables, rhymed pairs), not the complex stanzas of Horace's odes. This creates relentless forward momentum—appropriate for Cromwell's 'restless' energy. The short lines pile up like hammer blows: 'And Pallaces and Temples rent: / And Cæsars head at last / Did through his Laurels blast.' Three lines, three destructions.

Watch how enjambment (line breaks mid-phrase) creates double meanings. 'He nothing common did or mean / Upon that memorable Scene' can be read as 'He did nothing common' OR 'He did nothing mean'—both praising Charles. 'So much one Man can do, / That does both act and know' sounds like praise until you remember what that 'one Man' did: destroyed a kingdom and executed a king.

The poem's pronouns shift tellingly. Cromwell is 'he' for 100 lines while Marvell describes him in third person. Only in the final verse paragraph does Marvell address him as 'thou': 'But thou the Wars and Fortunes Son / March indefatigably on.' This direct address comes with direct advice: keep your sword raised. The shift from analysis to address is the shift from observer to participant—Marvell acknowledging that neutrality is no longer possible.