Read it through once

Andrew Marvell is one of those writers whose stature is best indicated by the variety of the judgments that have been passed upon him. Some readers have treated him as essentially a minor poet, a lyrical craftsman of exquisite finish but of limited intellectual range. Others have seen in him a profound and original intelligence, a kind of metaphysical mind equalled only by Donne and perhaps by Herbert. There is, however, an alternative view which recognizes in Marvell a particular combination of qualities that do not fit comfortably into any single critical category.