Political Rhetoric
Although it doesn't appear in every poem, the density of political imagery in this dialogue offers a pretty good clue that we're reading something Marvell-ous. Scholars debate long and hard about how Marvell's politics surface in his non-political poems, but his patriotic language is super-obvious in this one. Check out the "Horatian Ode" for political Marvell waxing eloquent about the "inglorious arts of peace" (10).
Wit
There's not a lot of LOLZ in this complain-fest, but the pileup of paradoxes in stanzas 1 and 2 put Marvell's trademark wittiness on proud display. Like the other metaphysical poets he's often grouped with, Marvell gives a lot of poem-space to wordplay and paradox, writing poetry that's both sophisticated and almost absurd. To sample some naughtier double entendres, take a spin through "To His Coy Mistress," Marvell's best-known work and one of the most famous love poems of all time. Just don't ask your teacher what "quaint" means.