A detailed line by line analysis of the poem "To Althea, from Prison" created by a 90% matric 2020 English HL student (top 1% in the subject).
Explains the meanings of lines, figures of speech used, structure and more.
‘To Althea, from Prison’ -Richard Lovelace (1618-1658)
When Love with unconfined wings
Prison
Hovers within my gates,
And my divine Althea brings
Nature
To whisper at the grates;
When I lie tangled in her hair
Love
And fettered to her eye,
The Gods that wanton in the air,
Friendship
Know no such liberty.
Royalty
When flowing cups run swiftly round
With no allaying Thames,
Godliness
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 a hermitage.
If I have freedom in my love,
And in my soul am free,
Angels that soar above,
Enjoy such liberty.
Title
Love letter to his actual lover. Althea = Greek for healer. Even in prison, he still reaches out
for contact (link to Touch).
When Love with unconfined wings
Love is personified as a visitor who, even in prison, is there for him with no boundaries.
Wings = symbol of love’s freedom. Repetition of the soft and murmuring ‘w’ sound of the
magical, fluttering wings of love that connect him to the outside world.
Hovers within my gates,
Magical presence and feeling of love can never be taken off his mind.
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