In the first episode of their new Close Readings series on political poetry, Seamus Perry and Mark Ford look at ‘An Horatian Ode upon Cromwell’s Return from Ireland’ by Andrew Marvell, described by Frank Kermode as ‘braced against folly by the power and intelligence that make it possible to think it the greatest political poem in the language’.Mark Ford is Professor of English at University College, London, and Seamus Perry is Professor of English Literature at Balliol College, Oxford.Sign up to the Close Readings subscription to listen ad free and to all our series in full:Directly in Apple PodcastsIn other podcast appsRead the poem hereFurther reading in the LRB:Blair Worden: Double TonguedFrank Kermode: Hard LabourDavid Norbrook: Political VerseGet in touch: podcasts@lrb.co.uk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.