The poem Unfortunate Lover is written by Andrew Marvell which is a very moving story who dogged by misfortunes through out his life. Before he was born, disasters changed his life and till his death he was unfortunate. He was born in a shipwreck when he was forced out of his mother’s womb as she was struck against a rock. Due to this he was brought up by officials from the court of wards and heartless guardians. He was not treated properly by all these people and this drove him into a state of distress. He fell in love with a girl but got no response from her. This situation of his was compared to that of Ajax who had to face the anger of hostile gods.
The unfortunate lover struggles against all the misfortunes in his life but he gets nothing out of it. The poet says that such kind of lovers leave an everlasting name behind them and happy and fortunate lovers are soon forgotten. In the poem there are three points where everyone is deeply moved : First when the child is forced out of his mother’s womb; second when the boy is not raised and treated properly by the officials of the court of ward; and third when the young man is hit by Cupid’s “winged artillery”. But at the end of the poem the Unfortunate lover is dressed in his own blood and this sad poem wrenches our heart.
The lover was unfortunate as he is a victim of series of misfortunes. But he is also lucky as unhappy lovers lovers are remembered and happy lovers are forgotten soon.
