World Enough and Time

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY FEB 28, 2000

The most politically active of Metaphysical poets receives a sober portrait. Marvell (1621-1678), best known today for his lyric poem "To His Coy Mistress," was once most closely associated with the political satires he penned as an M.P. during the Restoration, and this new biography places his life squarely in the context of public affairs. The poet's ambiguous political career--most generously described as characterized by an independence of mind--reflects the fluid complexity of English politics in the wake of the civil war. Marvell gravitated early in life toward young aristocratic cavaliers, such as the preternaturally attractive Richard Lovelace, but during Cromwell's rule was appointed tutor to the young daughter of erstwhile New Model Army Gen. Thomas Fairfax (like the poet, an instinctively contemplative northerner). After Charles II's coronation, he settled into vaguely oppositional politics, loyal to the commercial culture of his provincial hometown of Hull, and remained deeply (if privately) suspicious of the crypto-Catholic court and its morally degenerate ways. Murray is eminently sensible in his appraisal of Marvell's possible homosexuality and Lolita-like dalliances, but his presentation of the love life lacks excitement. . More fun is his coverage of the mission to Muscovy, during which Marvell composed Latin speeches for the tsar (who didn't like them very much) and traveled in a barge pulled by Russian serfs--an experience that must have added to his characteristic conviction in the virtue of liberty. Eight pages of b&w photos not seen by PW. .