The Poems of Andrew Marvell

Little known as a poet in his own time, Andrew Marvell (1621 78) was a patriotic politician and champion of religious toleration during the Restoration. Although long celebrated for the great love lyric, To His Coy Mistress, the last century has seen his wider reputation as a poet grow significantly, as readers have acclaimed not only his technical excellence, but the appeal of his verse to such themes as poetry and politics, alternative sexualities and the criticism of violent persecution.

Nigel Smith presents an authoritative text of Marvells poetry, accompanied by extensive annotations giving an unprecedented record of literary, philosophical and theological analogues and allusions. Local points of interpretation are addressed - using the many hundreds of publications devoted to Marvells life and works and Marvells canon is re-appraised: some poems considered dubious hitherto are added, and others excluded. In a headnote to each poem, the reader will find the fullest accounts yet published of matters of dating, sources, publication, historical context, and critical reception. The first complete, annotated edition of Andrew Marvells verse for thirty years, this is an indispensable guide to the study of Marvells poetry

This revised edition contains new information available since the original publication: newly recovered versions of some poems, further details of historical context and updated translations of all the Latin poems. It remains the first point of reference for scholar, student and general reader alike.

Nigel Smith is a Professor of English at Princeton University. He is the author of Perfection Proclaimed: Language and Literature in English Radical Religion, 1640-1660 (OUP, 1989) and Literature and Revolution in England, 1640-1660 (Yale UP, 1994).