'Climacteric' (from the Greek for 'ladder') as a word and concept appears first in English at about the end of the sixteenth century. It identifies a critical moment in the life of an individual or a nation, so it is not surprising that it should come into currency around the death of Queen Elizabeth I, and become a familiar usage as the course of the Stuart dynasty moves toward armed rebellion and civic upheaval. In 'An Horatian Ode upon Cromwell's Return from Ireland' Marvell predicts that 'to all States not free' Cromwell will 'Clymacterick be' (lines 103-4),at the same overwhelming military prowess Cromwell has displayed in subduing the Irish rebellion may be deployed against the remaining monarchic states of Europe. He implies that the triumphant Protestant general embodies the force of change that marks a crucial moment of history. The occasion for his writing the 'Ode' is also a climacteric moment in the poet's own development.