New criticism - A school of literary criticism which emerged in the 1920s and

developed in the Anglo-American cultural frame (especially the United States) dominating
literary studies in the 19!0s and the 19"0s#
- $ts representatives ($# A# %ichards &illiam 'mpson (ohn )rowe
%ansom) promote intrinsic criticism and invite the reader*critic to loo+
only at the words on the page#
- CLOSE READING, Attention must -e paid to what the te.t says and
how it does it (-ecause form and content are insepara-le#) A poem
contains everything that is needed for its interpretation# 'very word in the
te.t is significant not only through its denotative -ut also through its
connotative force
- /rocedures , $rony parado. tension am-ivalence and am-iguity
An Horatian Ode upon Cromwells Return from Ireland
0irst pu-lished along with two other 1liver )romwell pieces in the first edition of
2arvell3s poems -ut in all -ut two +nown copies the leaves have -een cancelled presuma-ly
as offensive to the +ing# &ritten shortly after 2ay 14"0 when )romwell returned in triumph
from $reland after crushing the re-ellion there and -efore he entered Scotland on (uly 22#
5his poem is o-viously an ode cele-rating the return of )romwell from his defeat of the
$rish while loo+ing forward to his campaign against the Scots# 6An 7oratian 1de, upon
)romwell3s %eturn from $reland6 is written in AA88 rhyme scheme with eight stan9as in the
first two lines and si. in the last two lines of each stan9a#
5his writing is historical and according to historical use of the word 61de6 it is meant as a
song to -e sung# 5he phrase 67oratian 1de6 comes from the :ree+ poet*writer*philosopher
7orace# $t means an ode that has one stan9a whose pattern repeats throughout it# 5hey are also
su-;ect to philosophy and more personal than other types of odes# $n this poem 2arvell uses
two couplets per stan9a and repeats it consistently#
5he title <An 7oratian 1de upon )romwell=s %eturn from $reland> warns us that this poem
deals with historical figures and comments on a historical occasion#
&e must try to read the poem as fully as richly as possi-le#
&e may well -egin our e.amination of the <1de> -y considering the am-iguity of the
first compliments that the spea+er pays to )romwell# 5he am-iguity reveals itself as early
as the second word of the poem# $t is the <forward> youth whose attention the spea+er
directs to )romwell=s e.ample# <0orward> may mean no more than <high-spirited>
<ardent> <properly am-itious>? -ut the 1.ford @ictionary sanctions the possi-ility that
there lur+s in the word the sense of <presumptuous> <pushing#> 5he forward youth can
no longer now <in the shadows sing * 7is num-ers languishing#> $n the light of
)romwell=s career he must forsa+e the shadows and the 2uses and -ecome a man of
action#
5he spea+er one o-serves does not identify )romwell himself as the <forward> youth> or
say directly that )romwell=s career has -een motivated -y a striving for fame# 8ut the
implications of the first two stan9as do carry over to )romwell# 5here is for e.ample the
important word <so> to relate )romwell to these stan9as, <So restless )romwell could not
cease####> And <restless> is as am-iguous in its meanings as <forward> and in its dar+er
connotations even more damning# 0or though <restless> can mean <scorning indolence>
<willing to forego ease> it can also suggest the man with a maggot in the -rain# <5o cease>
used intransitively is <to ta+e rest to -e or remain at rest> and the 1.ford @ictionary gives
instances as late as 1A01# )romwell=s <courage high> will not allow him to rest <in the
inglorious arts of peace#>
)romwell=s courage is too high to -roo+ a rival (lines 1A-20)# 5he implied metaphor is
that of some e.plosive which does more violence to that which encloses it--the powder to
its maga9ine for instance--than to some wall which merely opposes it--against which the
charge is fired#
8ut as we have already remar+ed the spea+er has -een careful to indicate that
)romwell=s motivation must -e conceived of as more comple. shall any mere thirst for
glory# 5he poet has even pointed this up# 5he forward youth is referred to as one who
<would appear>--that is as one who wills to leave the shadows of o-scurity# 8ut restless
)romwell <could not cease>--for )romwell it is not a Buestion of will at all -ut of a
deeper compulsion# %estless )romwell could not cease if he would#
$ndeed the lines that follow e.tend the suggestion that )romwell is li+e an
elemental force--with as little will as the lightning -olt and with as little conscience
(lines 1C - 14)# &e are told that the last two lines refer to )romwell=s struggles after the
8attle of 2arston 2oor with the leaders of the /arliamentary party# @ou-tless they do
and the point is important for our +nowledge of the poem# 8ut what is more important is
that we -e fully alive to the force of the metaphor# 5he clouds have -red the lightning
-olt -ut the -olt tears its way through the clouds and goes on to -last the head of )aesar
himself# As 2argoliouth puts it, <5he lightning is conceived as tearing through the side of
its own -ody the cloud#> $n terms of the metaphor then )romwell has not spared his own
-ody, there is no reason therefore to -e surprised that he has not spared his own party or
the -ody of )harles#