During the period of the Commonwealth
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NTRODUCTION. Ixv " Horatian Ode upon CromwelFs Return fromIreland/' in 1650, which Mr. Lowell called " themost truly classic in our language," and " worthyof its theme." As Archbishop Trench remarked,Marvell was conscious of his powers when hecalled this ode " Horatian " ; it is like Horaceat his best. We have already seen that in thishis most finished work, Marvell did not hesitateto utter noble words in praise of Charles I., evenwhen writing of Cromwell. Next followed, in 1655, "The First Anni-versary of the Government under His High-ness the Lord Protector,*' in which the poetdescribed the troubles through which Crom-well with heavenly aid had guided thecountry : — Tis not a freedom that, where all command,Nor tyranny, where one does them withstand ;But who of both the bounders knows to lay,Him, as their father, must the state obey. Three years later came the " Poem upon theDeath of His Royal Highness the Lord Pro-tector," noble in its tenderness. We are themore struck with the absolute sincerity of thepoet's grief when we compare the piece withwhat Dryden and Waller wrote on the sameoccasion, and we think more highly of Cromwell
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