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To Althea, from Prison - Richard Lovelace Analysis
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An in-depth analysis of To Althea, from Prison by Richard Lovelace.
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To Althea, from Prison - Richard LovelaceBackground
Richard Lovelace (1617-1657):
- Handsome, dashing, and well-educated
- Studied at both Cambridge and Oxford
- His lifestyle was contrary to that of the puritans of the time (people who
believed the culture and religion had become too excessive and needed to
be brought back to a basic and essentially pure state). So, he celebrated
happiness and excess.
- Cavalier poet (supported King Carles I)
- Because of his support for King Charles, he was imprisoned twice:
- 1st time: Imprisoned in 1642 for 7 weeks in Gatehouse Prison
connected to Westminster Abbey. This is when he wrote ‘To Althea,
from Prison’.
- 2nd time: When he returned to England in 1646 he was imprisoned in
Peterhouse Prison for 6 months for being a supporter of Charles I.
To Althea, from Prison: Analysis
- The true identity of Althea has never been confirmed.
- The poem describes his attempts at maintaining freedom while imprisoned.
A When Love with unconfinèd wings
B Hovers within my gates,
A And my divine Althea brings
B To whisper at my grates;
C When I lie tangled in her hair
D And fettered to her eye,
C The Gods that wanton in the air
D Know no such liberty.
E When flowing cups pass swiftly round
F With no allaying Thames,
E Our careless heads with roses bound,
, F Our hearts with loyal flames;
G When thirsty grief in wine we steep,
H When healths and draughts go free—
G Fishes that tipple in the deep
H Know no such liberty.
I When, like committed linnets, I
J With shriller throat shall sing
I The sweetness mercy, majesty,
J And glories of my King;
K When I shall voice aloud how good
L He is, how great should be,
K Enlargèd winds, that curl the flood,
L Know no such liberty.
M Stone walls do not a prison make,
N Nor iron bars a cage;
M Minds innocent and quiet take
N That for an hermitage;
O If I have freedom in my love
P And in my soul am free,
O Angels alone, that soar above,
P Enjoy such liberty.
Structure:
- The lines switch between iambic tetrameter (8 syllables) and iambic trimeter
(6 syllables).
- The combination of iambic tetrameter and iambic trimeter adds to the
rhythm of the poem and forces the reader to read in groups of two lines at a
time.
- Four stanzas of 8 lines (called octaves)
- The first 6 lines set up a “when’ scenario (as in when X happens,
then Y)
- Rhyme Scheme: ababcdcd in each stanza
Theme:
- No matter what physical circumstances a person is in, no one can imprison
the human mind.
Figures of Speech:
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