TO LUCASTA, ON GOING TO THE WARS
Reading edition
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. Colonel Lovelace.