3. INTRODUCTION
Andrew Marvell Born 31 March
1621
Winestead, England
Died 16 August 1678
(aged 57)
London, England
Occupation Poet
Nationality: English
4. WORK
Lyric poems
A Dialogue, between The Resolved Soul, and Created
Pleasure,
On a Drop of Dew,
The Coronet,
Eyes and tears,
To His Coy Mistress,
The Gallery,
The Definition of Love.
5. ABOUT ANDREW MARVELL
Marvell was born in Winestead-in-
Holderness, East Riding of Yorkshire, near
the city of Kingston upon Hull, the son of a
Church of England clergyman also named
Andrew Marvell. The family moved to Hull
when his father was appointed Lecturer at
Holy Trinity Church there, and Marvell was
educated at Hull Grammar School. A
secondary school in the city, the Andrew
Marvell Business and Enterprise College, is
now named after him.
6. The greatest Marvell poems selected by Dr.Oliver Tearle
Andrew Marvell (1621-78) is widely regarded as one of the greatest English poets of the
seventeenth century. His work is often associated with the Metaphysical Poets. But
which are Marvellâs best poems? Below weâve selected ten of Andrew Marvellâs most
famous and popular poems and said a little bit about them. Click on the title of each
poem to read the poem â and, in several cases, to access more information about it.
âTo His Coy Mistressâ. As well as being a seduction lyric, âTo His Coy Mistressâ is also
a carpe diempoem, which argues that we should âseize the dayâ because life is short.
Marvell, addressing his sweetheart, says that the womanâs reluctance to have sex with
him would be fine, if life wasnât so short.
7. Marvell announces that his love was born of despair â despair of
knowing that the one he loved would never be his. Indeed, only
Despair, rather than Hope, could have shown him what it was like
to experience âdivineâ love â in other words, the truly special love
is that which is hopeless, because we know we cannot have the
person we desire. Hopeless love often strikes us so much more
powerfully than hopeful love where we think something may come
of our desire.
9. BEFORE DEATH
From 1659 until his death in 1678, Marvell
was serving as London agent for the Hull
Trinity House, a shipmasters' guild. He
went on two missions to the continent,
one to the Dutch Republic and the other
encompassing Russia, Sweden, and
Denmark.