Andrew Marvell (1) (1621–1678)

The non-stop rhymed couplets were a bit clangy and distracting, especially after spending so long reading Blake's long, unrhymed lines. At least English prosody hadn't reached the dullness, in Marvell's day, that was the age of Pope and Dryden. The pseudo-pastoral stuff wasn't all that interesting, but Marvell is good in his descriptions of nature. I was surprised to find the best of his poems to be a long piece about his friend's house in the country. I almost didn't even read that poem since it was mis-categorized by the editor with the political satires, which dreary things I barely gave a few minutes of attention before closing the book.

Marvell isn't the kind of poet one revisits, but it's good finally to have read more than "To His Coy Mistress."… (más)