To Althea, from Prison
When love with unconfined wingsHovers within my gates;And my divine ALTHEA bringsTo whisper at the grates;When I lye tangled in her haire,And fetterd to her eye,The birds, that wanton in the aire,Know no such liberty.
When flowing cups run swiftly roundWith no allaying THAMES,Our carelesse heads with roses bound,Our hearts with loyal flames;When thirsty griefe in wine we steepe,When healths and draughts go free,Fishes, that tipple in the deepe,Know no such libertie.
When (like committed linnets) IWith shriller throat shall singThe sweetnes, mercy, majesty,And glories of my King.When I shall voyce aloud, how goodHe is, how great should be,Inlarged winds, that curle the flood,Know no such liberty.
Stone walls doe not a prison make,Nor iron bars a cage;Mindes innocent and quiet takeThat for an hermitage;If I have freedome in my love,And in my soule am free,Angels alone that sore aboveEnjoy such liberty.
"Now comes my lover tripping like the roe,And brings my longings tangled in her hair."
"But for modesty,I should fall foul in words upon fond man,That can forget his excellence and honour,His serious meditations, being the endOf his creation, to learn well to die;And live a PRISONER TO A WOMAN'S EYE."
Now the peace is made at the foes rate,Whilst men of armes to kettles their old helmes translate,And drinke in caskes of honourable plate.In ev'ry hand let a cup be found,That from all hearts a health may soundTo GORING! to GORING! see 't goe round.
He whose glories shine so brave and high,That captive they in triumph leade each care and eye,Claiming uncombated the victorie,And from the earth to heav'n rebound,Fixt there eternall as this round:To GORING! to GORING! see him crown'd.
To his lovely bride, in love with scars,Whose eyes wound deepe in peace, as doth his sword in wars;They shortly must depose the Queen of Stars:Her cheekes the morning blushes give,And the benighted world repreeve;To LETTICE! to LETTICE! let her live.
Give me scorching heat, thy heat, dry Sun,That to this payre I may drinke off an ocean:Yet leave my grateful thirst unquensht, undone;Or a full bowle of heav'nly wine,In which dissolved stars should shine,To the couple! to the couple! th' are divine.
"A great burgandine for WILL MURRAY'S sakeGEORGE SYMONDS, he vows the first course to take:When STRADLING a Graecian dog let fly,Who took the bear by the nose immediately;To see them so forward Hugh Pollard did smile,Who had an old curr of Canary oyl,And held up his head that GEORGE GORING might see,Who then cryed aloud, TO MEE, BOYS, TO MEE!"
"GEORGE, Generall of Guenefrieds,He is a joviall lad,Though his heart and fortunes disagreeOft times to make him sad."
Consult Davenant's Works, 1673, p. 247, and FRAGMENTA AULICA,1662, pp. 47, 54. Lord Goring died Jan. 6, 1663 (Smyth'sOBITUARY, p. 57; Camden Soc.).
Words in this poem 15
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- aloud adv.
- With a loud voice, or great noise; loudly; audibly. [Pref. a- + loud.]
- hermitage n.
- The habitation of a hermit; a secluded residence. [OE. hermitage, ermitage, F. hermitage, ermitage. See Hermit.]
- honour n.
- Esteem due or paid to worth; high estimation; respect; consideration; reverence; veneration; manifestation of respect or reverence. [OE. honor, honour, onour, onur, OF. honor, onor, honur, onur, honour, onour, F. honneur, fr. L. honor, honos.]
- goring n.
- A piece of canvas cut obliquely to widen a sail at the foot.
- eternall a.
- Without beginning or end of existence; always existing. [F. éternel, L. aeternalis, fr. aeternus. See Etern.]
- shortly adv.
- In a short or brief time or manner; soon; quickly. [AS. sceortlice.]
- scorching a.
- Burning; parching or shriveling with heat.
- payre n.
- One who pays; specifically, the person by whom a bill or note has been, or should be, paid.
- undone a.
- Not done or performed; neglected. [Pref. un- not + done.]
- pollard n.
- A tree having its top cut off at some height above the ground, that may throw out branches. Pennant. [From Poll the head.]
- generall a.
- Relating to a genus or kind; pertaining to a whole class or order; as, a general law of animal or vegetable economy. [F. général, fr. L. generalis. See Genus.]
- joviall a.
- Of or pertaining to the god, or the planet, Jupiter. [F., fr. L. Jovialis pertaining to Jove. The planet Jupiter was thought to make those born under it joyful or jovial. See Jove.]
- consult n.
- The act of consulting or deliberating; consultation; also, the result of consulation; determination; decision.
- obituary a.
- Of or pertaining to the death of a person or persons; as, an obituary notice; obituary poetry. [See Obit.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
To Althea, from Prison is in the public domain. This text is taken from Lucasta, Project Gutenberg ebook #703; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Richard Lovelace, To Althea, from Prison, in Lucasta (1649), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #703, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/lovelace-lucasta/to-althea-from-prison.html, id L13020.
Form and metre
To Althea, from Prison is 79 lines in 13 stanzas. This poem did not settle on a metre of its own; the book it comes from is in iambic tetrameter. 90% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.5 syllables. 8 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 16% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic tetrameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 ABABC-C- wingsA · gatesB · bringsA · gratesB · haireC · eye · aireC · liberty
- 2 A-A-B-B- roundA · thames · boundA · flames · steepeB · free · deepeB · libertie
- 3 -A-AB-B- i · singA · majesty · kingA · goodB · be · floodB · liberty
- 4 ABABC-C- makeA · cageB · takeA · hermitageB · loveC · free · aboveC · liberty
- 6 ----AA modesty · man · honour · end · dieA · eyeA
- 7 AAABBB rateA · translateA · plateA · foundB · soundB · roundB
- 8 AA-BBB highA · eyeA · victorie · reboundB · roundB · crown'dB
- 9 A-AB-B scarsA · wars · starsA · giveB · repreeve · liveB
- 10 AAABBB sunA · oceanA · undoneA · wineB · shineB · divineB
- 11 AAB---BB sakeA · takeA · flyB · immediately · smile · oyl · seeB · meeB
- 12 -A-A guenefrieds · ladA · disagree · sadA
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| When love with unconfined wings | 7 | ····˘/· |
| Hovers within my gates; | 6 | /˘···· |
| And my divine ALTHEA brings | 8 | ··˘/˘/˘· |
| To whisper at the grates; | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| When I lye tangled in her haire, | 9 | ···/˘˘··· |
| And fetterd to her eye, | 6 | ······ |
| The birds, that wanton in the aire, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Know no such liberty. | 6 | ···/˘˘ |
| When flowing cups run swiftly round | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| With no allaying THAMES, | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| Our carelesse heads with roses bound, | 10 | /˘·····/˘· |
| Our hearts with loyal flames; | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| When thirsty griefe in wine we steepe, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| When healths and draughts go free, | 6 | ······ |
| Fishes, that tipple in the deepe, | 8 | /˘·/˘··· |
| Know no such libertie. | 6 | ······ |
| When (like committed linnets) I | 8 | ··˘/˘/˘· |
| With shriller throat shall sing | 6 | ······ |
| The sweetnes, mercy, majesty, | 7 | ··/˘/˘˘ |
| And glories of my King. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| When I shall voyce aloud, how good | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| He is, how great should be, | 6 | ······ |
| Inlarged winds, that curle the flood, | 9 | ··˘··/˘·· |
| Know no such liberty. | 6 | ···/˘˘ |
| Stone walls doe not a prison make, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Nor iron bars a cage; | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Mindes innocent and quiet take | 8 | ·/˘˘·/˘· |
| That for an hermitage; | 6 | ···/˘˘ |
| If I have freedome in my love, | 8 | ········ |
| And in my soule am free, | 6 | ······ |
| Angels alone that sore above | 8 | /˘˘/···· |
| Enjoy such liberty. | 6 | ˘/·/˘˘ |
| "Now comes my lover tripping like the roe, | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| And brings my longings tangled in her hair." | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| "But for modesty, | 5 | ··/˘˘ |
| I should fall foul in words upon fond man, | 10 | ·········· |
| That can forget his excellence and honour, | 11 | ··˘/·/˘˘·/˘ |
| His serious meditations, being the end | 10 | ·/˘·˘/˘/·· |
| Of his creation, to learn well to die; | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
| And live a PRISONER TO A WOMAN'S EYE." | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Now the peace is made at the foes rate, | 9 | ········· |
| Whilst men of armes to kettles their old helmes translate, | 12 | ·····/˘···˘/ |
| And drinke in caskes of honourable plate. | 10 | ·········· |
| In ev'ry hand let a cup be found, | 9 | ········· |
| That from all hearts a health may sound | 8 | ········ |
| To GORING! to GORING! see 't goe round. | 10 | ·/˘·/˘···· |
| He whose glories shine so brave and high, | 9 | ··/˘····· |
| That captive they in triumph leade each care and eye, | 12 | ·/˘··/˘····· |
| Claiming uncombated the victorie, | 10 | /˘········ |
| And from the earth to heav'n rebound, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Fixt there eternall as this round: | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| To GORING! to GORING! see him crown'd. | 9 | ·/˘·/˘··· |
| To his lovely bride, in love with scars, | 9 | ··/˘····· |
| Whose eyes wound deepe in peace, as doth his sword in wars; | 12 | ············ |
| They shortly must depose the Queen of Stars: | 10 | ·/˘·˘/···· |
| Her cheekes the morning blushes give, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| And the benighted world repreeve; | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| To LETTICE! to LETTICE! let her live. | 9 | ·/˘·/˘··· |
| Give me scorching heat, thy heat, dry Sun, | 9 | ··/˘····· |
| That to this payre I may drinke off an ocean: | 11 | ···/˘·····/ |
| Yet leave my grateful thirst unquensht, undone; | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| Or a full bowle of heav'nly wine, | 9 | ········· |
| In which dissolved stars should shine, | 7 | ··˘/··· |
| To the couple! to the couple! th' are divine. | 11 | ··/˘··/˘·˘/ |
| "A great burgandine for WILL MURRAY'S sake | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| GEORGE SYMONDS, he vows the first course to take: | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| When STRADLING a Graecian dog let fly, | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| Who took the bear by the nose immediately; | 11 | ·······˘/˘˘ |
| To see them so forward Hugh Pollard did smile, | 11 | ····/˘·/˘·· |
| Who had an old curr of Canary oyl, | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| And held up his head that GEORGE GORING might see, | 11 | ·······/˘·· |
| Who then cryed aloud, TO MEE, BOYS, TO MEE!" | 10 | ···˘/····· |
| "GEORGE, Generall of Guenefrieds, | 8 | ·/˘˘···· |
| He is a joviall lad, | 7 | ···/˘˘· |
| Though his heart and fortunes disagree | 9 | ····/˘˘˘/ |
| Oft times to make him sad." | 6 | ······ |
| Consult Davenant's Works, 1673, p. 247, and FRAGMENTA AULICA, | 14 | ˘/············ |
| 1662, pp. 47, 54. Lord Goring died Jan. 6, 1663 (Smyth's | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| OBITUARY, p. 57; Camden Soc.). | 9 | ˘/˘·˘·/˘· |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.