What is the importance of the Court of Wards in the poem, The Unfortunate Lover?

The poem’s narrative focuses on an institution that is likely unfamiliar to contemporary readers: the Court of Wards. The lover, because he is an “heir” to a title or fortune, is subject to the governance of this court (30).

The unfortunate lover is one of the many young people who were caught up in this system. The Court of Wards is represented as a “fleet of cormorants black” (27). Like the scavenging sea birds they are named for, members of the Court of Wards appeared black (due to the robes of office they ware), and made their living feeding off others’ misfortune. Their “cruel care” is “fit” for his tragic state as an orphan (29, 32).

The poem describes how the court takes advantage of a young heir. He is “digested to despair” by their mistreatment of him and their exploitation of his wealth (34). They are described as feeding on his heart, “feast”ing while he “famish”es (37). The poem states that the unfortunate lover “both consumed, and increased” (38). As his legal property is being increased by the intervention of the guardians, it is also being devoured, because it is not his to spend. Instead, the guardians and the court reap all the benefits of this increase.

Although it is perhaps the least relatable aspect of the lover’s biography to modern readers, it is also the one to which Marvell devotes the longest amount of time – three full stanzas are used to describe how the Court of Wards mistreats and benefits from the lover’s property. In this sense, the poem can be read, not just as a love poem or a philosophical poem, but as a political satire against an abusive government institution.