TO LUCASTA, ON GOING TO THE WARS. BY RICHARD LOVELACE.
Reading edition
Richard Lovelace was an English cavalier, born in 1618, a period which produced many poets. He was educated both at the Charterhouse and at Oxford. He was twice imprisoned on account of the active part he took in the affairs of the times. After the execution of Charles, he was set free from prison only to find that his estates had been confiscated. He died in great poverty in London, in 1658. After his death his poems were collected under the name of “Lucasta, Posthume Poems.” The name of the lady to whom the poems were written was Lucy Sacheverell, whom he called his “Lux Castra.”
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, Loved I not Honor more.