Poetry and Allegiance in the English Civil Wars

Marvell and the Cause of Wit

Nicholas McDowell

Original research on the London literary scene in the 1640s and 50s from Leverhulme-prize-winning scholar
A fascinating and detailed study focusing on the central figure of Andrew Marvell
Examines the literary activities and patronage of Thomas Stanley, the highly talented and industrious seventeenth-century poet and translator
Includes innovative readings of Milton's sonnets and Richard Lovelace's lyric verse
Sheds new light on the origins and audience of Marvell's early political poems, including the 'Horatian Ode', and of lyrics such as 'To His Coy Mistress'

Poetry and Allegiance in the English Civil Wars

Marvell and the Cause of Wit

Nicholas McDowell

Description

This book is about the things which could unite, rather than divide, poets during the English Civil Wars: friendship, patronage relations, literary admiration, and anti-clericalism. The central figure is Andrew Marvell, renowned for his 'ambivalent' allegiance in the late 1640s. Little is known about Marvell's associations in this period, when many of his best-known lyrics were composed. The London literary circle which formed in 1647 under the patronage of the wealthy royalist Thomas Stanley included 'Cavalier' friends of Marvell such as Richard Lovelace but also John Hall, a Parliamentarian propagandist inspired by reading Milton. Marvell is placed in the context of Stanley's impressive circle of friends and their efforts to develop English lyric capability in the absence of traditional court patronage. By recovering the cultural values that were shared by Marvell and the like-minded men with whom he moved in the literary circles of post-war London, we are more likely to find the reasons for their decisions about political allegiance. By focusing on a circle of friends and associates we can also get a sense of how they communicated with and influenced one another through their verse. There are innovative readings of Milton's sonnets and Lovelace's lyric verse, while new light is shed on the origins and audience not only of Marvell's early political poems, including the 'Horatian Ode', but lyrics such as 'To His Coy Mistress'.

Poetry and Allegiance in the English Civil Wars

Marvell and the Cause of Wit

Nicholas McDowell

Introduction: Marvell and Friends
1:Social Contexts of Marvell's Lyric Verse, 1646-8
2:Milton, John Hall, and Cultural Communities in Post-War London, 1646-7
3:Richard Lovelace and the End of Court Culture, 1647-9
4:Marvell and the End of Court Culture, 1648-9
5:Allegiance, Patronage, and the Reception of Marvell's Verse, 1649-50
Conclusion: 'Tom May's Death' and the Ancient Right of the Poet
Bibliography

Poetry and Allegiance in the English Civil Wars

Marvell and the Cause of Wit

Nicholas McDowell

Author Information

Nicholas McDowell, Department of English, University of Exeter

Poetry and Allegiance in the English Civil Wars

Marvell and the Cause of Wit

Nicholas McDowell

Reviews and Awards

"an excitingly speculative book about the links between poetry and politics in the seventeenth century" - Neil Forsyth, Times Literary Supplement

"tells us much about the intellectual and social world in which Marvell moved... [McDowell's] imaginative reconstruction of the literary life of revolutionary England adds a profoundly important dimension to our understanding of the cultural politics of the 1640s. To read this book is to see that decade from within, to live with its poets, and to hear them sing." - Matthew Adams, The Review of English Studies

"Nicholas McDowell's carefully researched book...adds a great deal to our emerging sense of the complexity of political, social and cultural identity during the 1640s [and] reveals a matrix of allusion, sociability, allegiance and engagement within which our understanding of the multiplicities of Marvell's poetry can be reformulated." - Jerome de Groot, Times Higher Education Supplement

"McDowell's work, through exemplary research and solid conjecture... revitalizes the contextual resources of Marvell scholarship." - Modern Language Review, 105. 2

"McDowell's methodology is certainly unique [and] succeeds comprehensively in enriching and complicating the age-old debate about Marvell's political and literary loyalties. The book is a significant contribution to the field which all subsequent investigations of Marvell's historical situation will have to contend with." - Noam Reisner, Year's Work in English Studies 89, 1