Andrew Marvell is buried in St.Giles-in-the-Fields, St Giles High Street,
London, England. His
body was interred under the pews in the south aisle next
to the pulpit.
Tablet to Andrew Marvell.
Photograph by David Conway
Marvell was educated at Hull Grammar School and Trinity College
Cambridge.
Between 1650-1652 Marvell was the tutor to Mary Fairfax at Nun Appleton
in Yorkshire. During this period it is believed that he wrote The
Garden, the Mower poems and Upon Appleton House.
The following year he became tutor to Oliver Cromwell's ward William
Dutton. In 1654 he began his career as Cromwell's unofficial Laureate
writing such poems as
An Horatian
Ode upon Cromwell's Return from Ireland and Upon the
Death of his Late Highness the Lord Protector.
In 1657 he was appointed Latin secretary to the council of state - a
post previously held by his friend John Milton. At the time of the Restoration Marvell was instrumental in
securing the release of Milton from prison. In 1659 he was elected MP for Hull and represented the town for the next
20 years. (His memorial tablet in St. Giles-in-the-Fields celebrates his virtues as a member of parliament rather than
as a poet.)
During his life Marvell was regarded as a satirist and a wit rather than as
a lyric poet. In the 20th Century Marvell's work was re-evaluated by
T.S. Eliot and his enigmatic poetry now receives
considerable academic interest.
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