About twenty years ago James Carscallen made some insightful and extremely useful observations about Andrew Marvell's poetry. Although I do not agree with everything he has to say, I feel that Carscallen successfully argues at least one idea that is of major significance of Marvell: that "where you find a pair of contraries you will also find that each of them contains both in itself, and that each can be seen in terms of the other." Carscallen goes on to add that often the "contraries change places and metamorphose into one another."¹ My purpose here is to compare the characters of Oliver Cromwell in the "Horatian Ode" and Lord Fairfax in "Upon Appleton House," and to show that although they appear to be irreconcilable opposites they are actually contained within each other and can be defined by each other. As a result, I will attempt to refute some critics, such as Isabel Rivers, who in comparing Cromwell and Fairfax sees "a onesidedness" in each respective position of action (Cromwell) and retirement (Fairfax), and who concludes that "a choice for one way of life or for one kind of action excludes other qualities or possibilities."² Actually, the love for action and for retirement coexist within each man, and if Rivers's statement is partially somewhat accurate, it is only by benefit of historical hindsight, for in spite of the final couplet in the "Ode," nothing was absolutely certain about the political future of either man at the turbulent time these poems were written, the early 1650s.

To be sure, the paths of the two generals have crossed one another, Cromwell coming out of retirement and Fairfax retiring from action, but Marvell could not have been completely certain that things would not change or even entirely reverse themselves, especially during a time of such unprecedented upheavals. Cromwell may indeed be an irresistible natural force for the time being, especially in a poem written in praise of Cromwell, but once the historically orderly pattern of government ceases to exist, who dares to attempt to foresee the future? In fact, if historical hindsight is to be the measure upon which interpretation is based, eventually the fortunes of the two men did cross again, for in 1658 "Presbyterian leaders including Fairfax and Manchester" were actively becoming contacts to the Royalist factions, a somewhat dangerous activity for Fairfax to carry on while in retirement; similarly, Cromwell became "sickly, fever and overwork wearing him down," and was forced into semi-retirement, which is where George Fox met him "riding round Hampton Court" and felt from him a "waft of death."³ Therefore what we must consider in these poems is twofold: first, we must assess the characters of two men who are temporarily opposites and, secondly, distinguish the opposing qualities that can be found in varying degrees in each other; that is, though the men are apparently dissimilar, the two actually have remarkably much in common.

First, we must identify exactly what human qualities Marvell chose to emphasize. Both men were unquestionably brave, Cromwell receiving "the deepest Scars" on any "Field of all the Civil Wars" (45-46), Fairfax embodying "Pow'r which the Ocean might command" (XLIV).⁴ Humility is evident in Cromwell's respect for the Commonwealth:

He to the Commons Feet presents
A Kingdome, for his first years rents:
And, what he may, forbears
His Fame to make it theirs:
And has his Sword and Spoyls ungirt,
To lay them at the Publick's skirt.
(85-90)

And Fairfax's humility is reflected by the modest and, for one of his station, unpretentious house in which he lives:

Humility alone designs
Those short but admirable Lines,
By which, ingirt and unconstrain'd,
Things greater are in less contain'd.
(VI)

In addition to bravery and humility, John M. Wallace has pointed out "the four cardinal varieties" of Cromwell's virtue:⁵ temperance in Cromwell's private gardens, where "He liv'd reserved and austere;" fortitude, which is revealed in his "industrious Valour;" and wisdom in his "wiser Art." The fourth, justice, deserves extended discussion and will be treated separately. But Fairfax certainly shows the same temperance in his modest house; a "fortitude of patience" (Wallace 242) in choosing to retire at the time he did; and a wisdom that is reflected in a house and grounds "Where ev'ry Thing does answer Use" (VIII). Moreover, Annabel Patterson finds that "Mary Fairfax not only exemplifies Fairfax's 'Discipline severe,' but in her modesty, both natural and philosophical, must surely demonstrate his."⁶ Cromwell's discipline is evident throughout, particularly when we are told that despite the dangers of his newfound high position he "March[es] indefatigably on" (114).

But the idea of justice is a more complicated matter to discuss:

Though Justice against Fate complain,
And plead the antient Rights in vain;
But those do hold or break
As Men are strong or weak.
Nature that hateth emptiness,
Allows of penetration less:
And therefore must make room
Where greater Spirits come.
(37-44)

How can Fairfax and Cromwell be linked at all, given a definition of justice such as this? Wallace, in one of his less extravagant claims in Cromwell's behalf, interprets justice to mean "a higher justice, embodied not in a constitution but in natural and revealed law" (76). A close reading of the lines will reveal that "Justice" need not necessarily be equivalent to "antient Rights." No, indeed, "Nature that hateth emptiness" and "Allows of penetration less" is ultimately the arbiter of what constitutes justice, to keep to the language of legality that characterizes the passage. Cromwell was acting justly to start a new order, acting for what he saw as England's good not for his own personal ends:

How good he is, how just,
And fit for highest Trust:
Nor yet grown stiffer with Command,
But still in the Republick's hand:
How fit he is to sway
That can so well obey.
(79-84)

As Joseph Mazzeo and others have demonstrated,⁷ Cromwell is also depicted by Marvell as a Machiavellian schemer:

And Hampton shows what part
He had of wiser Art.

Where, twining subtile fears with hope,
He wove a Net of such a scope,
That Charles himself might chase
To Caresbrooks narrow case.
(47-52)

Although the last four lines have been proved historically false, there is enough historical evidence to support the idea that Marvell was right in essence. Cromwell was, however, a real Machiavellian general in the sense that, unlike some of the self-advancing schemers we find in Renaissance tragedy, Cromwell acted this way for the good of his country:

What may not then our isle presume
While Victory his Crest does Plume!
(97-98)

In these and in the lines quoted previously, we have ample evidence that Cromwell was acting for justice and England, not for personal gain.

Let us turn now to Fairfax then. The two men differ only in degree of transgressing "antient Rights" for realistic ends benefitting the nation. Fairfax, commander of the Parliamentary forces just before Cromwell, too, raised arms against his king, which, strictly speaking, is a violation of law, even if Fairfax did only intend to curb the power of the king. But when things began to happen faster than he liked, Fairfax withdrew, claiming his conscience would allow him to act no further. Fairfax would not attack Scotland unprovoked; Marvell extols Fairfax's

Conscience, that Heaven-nursed Plant,
Which most our Earthly Gardens want.
A prickling leaf it bears, and such
As that which shrinks at ev'ry touch;
But Flowrs eternal, and divine,
That in the Crowns of Saints do shine.
(XLV)

But perhaps it was as much guilt as conscience, for Fairfax must have known that the situation would never have gone as far as it did without his own contribution. Fairfax's last-minute efforts to save Charles's life went for nought. So in the final analysis both men began with a reinterpretation of justice for the benefit of their nation, although each had a different standard and outcome in mind.

Inextricably linked to the question of justice is that of ambition, for each general, first Fairfax and later Cromwell, came to be the most powerful single man in England in defiance of "antient Rights." Marvell speaks plainly enough on Fairfax's behalf:

For he did, with utmost Skill,
Ambition weed, but Conscience till.
(XLV)

As we have seen in several quotations from the "Ode," Cromwell is working for England's benefit, not his own. However, the closing couplet of the poem I interpret as a subtle warning:

The same Arts that did gain
A Pow'r must it maintain.
(119-20)

The final verb, "must maintain," implies that Marvell has an apprehension that Cromwell may do more than merely maintain his power in the future, that he may try to consolidate and advance it instead, especially if we keep in mind that Marvell has already portrayed Cromwell as an irresistible "force of angry Heavens flame" (26).

Indeed, Cromwell's responsibility to Parliament is emphasized again and again, most notably in the falcon simile:

So when the Falcon high
Falls heavy from the Sky,
She, having kill'd, no more does search,
But on the next green Bow to pearch;
Where, when he first does lure,
The Falckner has her sure.
What may not then our Isle presume
While Victory his Crest does plume!
(91-98)

In this and in the other great natural image developed in the poem, that of the

Marvell gives us his idea of Cromwell's relationship with nature. As one who has forcefully "Urged his active Star" (12), Cromwell has taken on willingly this amoral⁸ power derived from above:

'Tis Madness to resist or blame
The force of angry Heavens flame:
And, if we would speak true,
Much to the Man is due.
(25-28)

Mazzeo claims quite rightly that Cromwell "is no passive instrument of fortune,"⁹ and Harold Toliver has noted that "worthwhile reconciliation of above and below comes only through those who have valor and make themselves conduits of Fate's electrical charge: one must conceive within himself a new order closer to the laws of providence before the works of time are found lacking; the flame must be self-engendered as well as derived from above."¹⁰

Fairfax's power is also active, but within a contemplative setting, for the equivalent of Cromwell's lightning bolt is Fairfax's estate, where instead of a natural force willingly assumed by man, we have nature willingly dominated by man, accepting Fairfax's influence and reflecting his character. "Had it pleased him and God," (XLIV) Fairfax might have been a lightning bolt, too, but instead, nature pays him homage:

These [flowers], as their Governour goes by,
In fragrent Vollyes they let fly;
And to salute their Governess
Again as great a charge they press:
None for the Virgin Nymph; for She
Seems with the Flow'rs a Flow'r to be.
And think so still! though not compare
With Breath so sweet, or Cheek so faire.
(XXXVIII)

Here in the Morning tye my Chain,
Where the two Woods have made a Lane;
While, like a Guard on either side,
The Trees before their Lord divide;
This, like a long and equal Thread,
Betwixt two Labyrinths does lead.
But, where the Floods did lately drown,
There at the Ev'ning stake me down.
(LXXVIII)

The floods mentioned are elsewhere in the poem seen as a controlled, orderly, and nourishing yearly occurrence, similar to the floods of the Nile, the idea again being that the elements are in service to Fairfax. And Mary Fairfax, as Fairfax's descendant, also has the same effect:

'Tis She that to these Gardens gave
That wondrous Beauty which they have;
She streightness on the Woods bestows;
To Her the Meadow sweetness owes;
Nothing could make the River be
So Chrystal-pure but only She;
She yet more Pure, Sweet, Streight, and Fair,
Then Gardens, Woods, Meads, Rivers are.
(LXXXVII)

But there is a subtler rhetorical effect in "Upon Appleton House," almost imperceptible, urging Fairfax back to active life, and if not that, then at least extolling Fairfax's former active greatness. The fifth and sixth lines of the following stanza, to which I have already alluded above in discussing the yearly floods, are especially noteworthy:

Then, to conclude these pleasant Acts,
Denton sets ope its Cataracts;
And makes the Meadow truly be
(What it but seem'd before) a sea.
For, jealous of its Lords long stay,
It try's t'invite him thus away.
The River in it self is drown'd,
And Isl's th' astonisht Cattle round.
(LIX)

Natural images are used both to praise and perhaps to advise both men in each poem.

Finally, there remain two small but nevertheless important points of comparison. First, we must take stock of what Marvell has chosen to omit from each poem. Notably, we never get a full picture of Cromwell in retirement; but similarly, we are never shown Fairfax in action, which seems especially unusual in a poem of almost eight hundred lines. Curiously, we see instead Fairfax's predecessor in action against the nunnery:

But waving [resistance] aside like Flyes,
Young Fairfax through the Wall does rise.
(XXXIII)

We have also already seen nature in mock-military action, but we never do see Fairfax himself in any of his former active glory; perhaps during his stay at Appleton House as Mary's tutor Marvell learned firsthand of the possible guilt which Fairfax may have felt after Charles's death, or perhaps Fairfax may have instructed Marvell to keep the poem light, preferring allusion to statement about occurrences that he probably would rather forget. But when the lines about Fairfax's action are compared with the few lines showing Cromwell in retirement, we can see that roughly the same percentage is spent in discussing retirement in the "Ode" as is spent in discussing action in "Upon Appleton House." The proportion is almost like a yingyang combination, which, I believe, illustrates Marveil's understanding and acceptance of each mode of existence, each containing the other to about the same degree. In addition, Marvell has omitted mention of Fairfax's health, which helped force him into early retirement; as Pierre Legouis tells us, Fairfax suffered from "ague, his wounds, and the gout."¹¹ However, it is easy to see that Fairfax would no more desire to be reminded of his ill health than of his role in the Civil Wars.

Secondly, the role of chance remains to be discussed. It is ironic that even as Fairfax's poor health played a part in his retirement, so too, as has been noted, did it eventually play a role in Cromwell's semiretirement in 1658. Circumstances are certainly given a role in the "Ode," for in addition to power derived from above and from within, Cromwell was also "the war's and fortune's son" (113).

Clearly, then, Marvell did not want to exclude totally the qualities of retirement from Cromwell, nor of activity from Fairfax, and his incorporation of antitheses in each poem supports this view. Marvell had to be supremely tactful, for he was as uncertain about the future as anyone else, which explains why he is indirect so often, keeping himself not fully committed, using metaphors, similes, hints, and allusions instead of making direct statements. Their meanings we are left to ponder.

Notes

¹ James Carscallen, "Marvell's Infinite Parallels," University of Toronto Quarterly 39 (1970): 147.

² Isabel Rivers, The Poetry of Conservatism (Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1973) 103.

³ Keith Feiling, A History of England (London: Oxford, 1948) 507, 508.

⁴ H. M. Margoliouth, ed., The Poems and Letters of Andrew Marvell (Oxford: Clarendon, 1971). Excerpts from both poems are taken from this edition and are cited parenthetically in the text.

⁵ John M. Wallace, Destiny His Choice: The Loyalism of Andrew Marvell (Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1968) 75. Hereafter cited parenthetically in the text.

⁶ Annabel Patterson, Marvell and the Civic Crown (Princeton: Princeton UP, 1978) 108.

⁷ See Joseph Mazzeo, "Cromwell as Machiavellian Prince in Marvell's 'An Horatian Ode.'" Journal of the History of Ideas 21:1-17.

⁸ Some critics, such as Dennis Davison and John M. Wallace, consider Cromwell to be a moral Scourge of God. I disagree with this position, as do most other critics. See Dennis Davison, The Poetry of Andrew Marvell (London: Edward Arnold, 1964) and John M. Wallace, Destiny His Choice: The Loyalism of Andrew Marvell (Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1968).

⁹ Mazzeo 7.

¹⁰ Harold Toliver, Marvell's Ironic Vision (New Haven: Yale UP, 1965) 127-28.

¹¹ Pierre Legouis, Andrew Marvell: Poet, Puritan, Patriot (Oxford: Clarendon, 1968) 18.