RICHARD LOVELACE (1618-1657)
TO ALTHEA, FROM PRISON
When Love with unconfined wing
Hovers within my gates,
And my divine Althea bring
To whisper at the grates;
When I lie tangled in her hair,
And fetter'd to her eye,
The gods, that wanton in the air,
Know no such liberty.
When flowing cups run swiftly round
With no allaying Thames,
Our careless heads with roses bound,
Our hearts with loyal flames;
When thirsty grief in wine we steep,
When healths and draughts go free,
Fishes, that tipple in the deep,
Know no such liberty.
When (like committed linnets) I
With shriller throat shall sing
The sweetness, mercy, majesty,
And glories of my king;
When I shall voice aloud how good
He is, how great should be,
Enlarged winds, that curl the flood,
Know no such liberty.
Stone walls do not a prison make,
Nor iron bars a cage;
Minds innocent and quiet take
That for an hermitage;
If I have freedom in my love,
And in my soul am free,
Angels alone that soar above,
Enjoy such liberty.
RICHARD LOVELACE (1618-1657)
TO LUCASTA, GOING TO THE WARS
Original Text: Richard Lovelace, Lucasta (1649).
Tell me not (Sweet) I am unkind,
That from the nunnery
Of thy chaste breast and quiet mind
To war and arms I fly.
True, a new mistress now I chase,
The first foe in the field;
And with a stronger faith embrace
A sword, a horse, a shield.
Yet this inconstancy is such
As you too shall adore;
I could not love thee (Dear) so much,
Lov'd I not Honour more.
The identity of Lucasta is still debated, although Anthony Wood (Athenae Oxonienses [1691-92]) says she was Lucy Sacheverel, "whom he usually called Lux Casta"
1642.
Although recently questioned, it is probable
that this was written in prison in 1642, Lovelace having
been committed to the Gatehouse at Westminster for presenting
the Kentish petition against proposed Parliamentary measures.