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The Coronet
The poem "The Coronet" by Andrew Marvell.
- GenresPoetry
1 pages, Kindle Edition
Published January 28, 2012
3 people want to read
About the author
Andrew Marvell
310 books85 followersFrequently satirical work of English metaphysical poet Andrew Marvell includes "To His Coy Mistress" and "The Definition of Love," both published posthumously.
A clergyman fathered Andrew Marvell, a parliamentarian. John Donne and George Herbert associated him. He befriended John Milton, a colleague.
The family moved to Hull, where people appointed his father as lecturer at church of Holy Trinity, and where grammar school educated the young Marvell. A secondary school in the city is now named after him.
He most famously composed The Garden , An Horatian Ode upon Cromwell's Return from Ireland , and the Country House Poem , Upon Appleton House .
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_...
A clergyman fathered Andrew Marvell, a parliamentarian. John Donne and George Herbert associated him. He befriended John Milton, a colleague.
The family moved to Hull, where people appointed his father as lecturer at church of Holy Trinity, and where grammar school educated the young Marvell. A secondary school in the city is now named after him.
He most famously composed The Garden , An Horatian Ode upon Cromwell's Return from Ireland , and the Country House Poem , Upon Appleton House .
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_...
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
July 25, 2022
When for the thorns with which I long, too long,
With many a piercing wound,
My Saviour’s head have crowned,
I seek with garlands to redress that wrong:
Through every garden, every mead,
I gather flowers (my fruits are only flowers),
Dismantling all the fragrant towers
That once adorned my shepherdess’s head….
The poet here wishes to offer a magnificent compliment to Jesus Christ in the form of a poem in order to recompense Christ for the discredit to which he was subjected when he was made to wear a crown of thorns at the point of his Crucifixion. But, while writing his poem, the poet apprehends that he is being prompted to write the poem by motives of acknowledgment and the hope of worldly headway. The poet disciplines himself for entertaining such base motives. He then thinks that his poem is fit only to crown the feet of Christ and not his head.
‘The Coronet’ is a profoundly spiritual poem in which the writer conveyes his commitment to Christ. The writer recalls the Crucifixion and feels that he should pay his homage and accolade to Christ in the form of a poem.
At the same time, this poem is an acknowledgment of the writer’s own discredit. While he sets out to write a sacred poem expressing his veneration for Christ, he realizes that his legitimate motive in writing the poem is to electrify others by his poetic aptitude, and in this way to win recognition and also add some worldly benefit. These motives of self-centeredness take away the consecrated temperament of his poem, and so he reprimands himself for debasing “heaven’s diadem” with these purposes.
Thus there is a strong note of self-disapproval and self-condemnation in the poem, while the tribute to Christ still remains the dominant theme.
To conclude, this is not an easy poem to understand for the following reasons:
1) The use of “flowers”, “fruits”, “garlands”, and “towers adorning the heads of shepherdesses”, in a metaphorical sense is rather perplexing.
2) We get the complicated insinuation to the old serpent twining the poet in its “speckled breast”.
3) In the closing lines we have the phrase “my curious frame” which could mean the poet’s own proficiently fashioned body but which really means the skilfully-woven garland which in turn means his skilfully written poem.
4) The focus of meaning in the diverse lines of the poem adds to our difficulties of understanding it. Most of the lines are loaded with meaning and packed with Biblical citations.
5) The terminology of the poem is also not simple. We have a large number of polysyllabic words.
With many a piercing wound,
My Saviour’s head have crowned,
I seek with garlands to redress that wrong:
Through every garden, every mead,
I gather flowers (my fruits are only flowers),
Dismantling all the fragrant towers
That once adorned my shepherdess’s head….
The poet here wishes to offer a magnificent compliment to Jesus Christ in the form of a poem in order to recompense Christ for the discredit to which he was subjected when he was made to wear a crown of thorns at the point of his Crucifixion. But, while writing his poem, the poet apprehends that he is being prompted to write the poem by motives of acknowledgment and the hope of worldly headway. The poet disciplines himself for entertaining such base motives. He then thinks that his poem is fit only to crown the feet of Christ and not his head.
‘The Coronet’ is a profoundly spiritual poem in which the writer conveyes his commitment to Christ. The writer recalls the Crucifixion and feels that he should pay his homage and accolade to Christ in the form of a poem.
At the same time, this poem is an acknowledgment of the writer’s own discredit. While he sets out to write a sacred poem expressing his veneration for Christ, he realizes that his legitimate motive in writing the poem is to electrify others by his poetic aptitude, and in this way to win recognition and also add some worldly benefit. These motives of self-centeredness take away the consecrated temperament of his poem, and so he reprimands himself for debasing “heaven’s diadem” with these purposes.
Thus there is a strong note of self-disapproval and self-condemnation in the poem, while the tribute to Christ still remains the dominant theme.
To conclude, this is not an easy poem to understand for the following reasons:
1) The use of “flowers”, “fruits”, “garlands”, and “towers adorning the heads of shepherdesses”, in a metaphorical sense is rather perplexing.
2) We get the complicated insinuation to the old serpent twining the poet in its “speckled breast”.
3) In the closing lines we have the phrase “my curious frame” which could mean the poet’s own proficiently fashioned body but which really means the skilfully-woven garland which in turn means his skilfully written poem.
4) The focus of meaning in the diverse lines of the poem adds to our difficulties of understanding it. Most of the lines are loaded with meaning and packed with Biblical citations.
5) The terminology of the poem is also not simple. We have a large number of polysyllabic words.
Displaying 1 of 1 review