Scribd
Upload
14 views2 pages

Andrew Marvell Captures The Characteristics of Seventeenth

Uploaded by

jessete
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
14 views2 pages

Andrew Marvell Captures The Characteristics of Seventeenth

Uploaded by

jessete
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 2

Andrew Marvell captures the essence of seventeenth-century poetry in one poem, and this

pattern undoubtedly repeats throughout his extensive body of work. In his poem "The Definition
of Love," Marvell pours out his emotions—both love and fear—expressing his pain and
frustration with destiny, which prevents him from attaining the woman he yearns for.
In metaphysical poetry, as described on the module overview, the author shows an interest in the
spiritual. In contrast, carpe diem poetry focuses on the physical, with the poet or narrator
attempting to persuade his lover to engage in intimacy, making the poem seductive. There is also
pastoral poetry, which gives attention to the lives of shepherds and shepherdesses attending their
flocks.
Marvell intertwined these three elements to create one of many masterpieces, showcasing his
poetic genius and innovative mind. The opening of "The Definition of Love" has a spiritual
connotation, specifically when Marvell personifies Despair as the culprit for his impossible love.
My love is of a birth as rare
As ’tis for object strange and high;
It was begotten by Despair
Upon Impossibility. (1-4)
The personification of the culprit becomes more vivid and gains strength as the poem develops.
Magnanimous Despair alone
Could show me so divine a thing
Where feeble Hope could ne’er have flown,
But vainly flapp’d its tinsel wing. (5-8)
Through despair, he understands and appreciates love. How else could he comprehend its
intensity without an obstacle? If his love were requited and suffered no opposition, his emotions
would not be as deep. The oxymoron "magnanimous despair" is twofold: it brings forth the
characteristics of pastoral poetry, where "magnanimous" can be interpreted as highly moral and
honorable, expected from goodness. It is also metaphysical, as it refers to a great mind raised
above what is low, mean, or ungenerous (Cambridge_. Magnanimous," a word of Latin origin,
encapsulates the "fruits" of the spirit mentioned in the scriptures: humble, reasonable, kind, fair,
unselfish, forgiving, patient, gentle, and more.
The characteristics of carpe diem poetry are evident in the poem when the narrator explains how
Fate (personified), jealous of love, opposes it, giving a sense of urgency.
For Fate with jealous eye does see
Two perfect loves, nor lets them close;
Their union would her ruin be,
And her tyrannic pow’r depose. (13-16)
I don’t perceive an explicit invitation to intercourse; however, it is notable that the narrator is
anguished by the separation Fate caused through her jealousy, preventing them from
consummating his love.
The final lines encapsulate the narrator’s accusation toward Fate, concluding that it is at fault for
not allowing him to meet or be with the person he desires.
Therefore the love which us doth bind,
But Fate so enviously debars,
Is the conjunction of the mind,
And opposition of the stars. (29-32)

In response to this week’s discussion about the ways in which Marvell’s poetry utilizes the
traditions of carpe diem, metaphysical, and pastoral poetry, it is evident from the analyzed poem
that the author touched on all three. He engaged with pastoral poetry in lighter terms and delved
much more deeply into metaphysical themes, with touches of carpe diem. Indeed, it is a
phenomenal piece.

Works Cited

“Magnanimous | Definition in the Cambridge English Dictionary.” Edited by Cambridge


University Press, Cambridge University, 2019,
dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/magnanimous.

Marvell, Andrew. “The Definition of Love.” The Norton Anthology of English Literature: The
Sixteenth Century The Early Seventeenth Century. W.W. Norton & Co., 2018, pp. 1348

You might also like