An Horatian Ode upon Cromwell's Return from Ireland

On the poem’s surface, Marvell’s ode praises the unlikely rise of Oliver Cromwell. Much of the poem describes Cromwell’s conquest as a force as inevitable and natural as the strike of “three-fork’d lightning” (Line 13). The speaker characterizes Cromwell as an incidental yet necessary hero through diction, symbolism, and hyperbole. However, there are contradictions and mixed metaphors that subvert the speaker’s unfaltering logic and praise for Cromwell. The speaker holds strong sympathies for the beheaded King Charles I. It is unclear whether the speaker’s sympathies for Charles outshine Cromwell’s “active star” (Line 12). The poem ostensibly mythologizes Cromwell but one can also see the speaker’s anxieties about political and religious instability.

The poet’s characterization of Cromwell as both an unlikely and a predestined hero starts with the first two lines. The speaker describes Cromwell as a “forward youth” (Line 1); they suggest the future leader’s progressive, precocious, and proud nature with the word “forward.” Cromwell comes from an older tradition. He “forsake[s] his Muses” (Line 2), or the Ancient Greek goddesses of artistic inspiration to become a man of action. The speaker connects Cromwell to Ancient Greece—and later to Ancient Rome when comparing him to “Caesar” (Line 101).