To Althea, From Prison by Richard Lovelace

972 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: What is the importance of freedom of speech

The renaissance era was a time of great conflict, but also of great artistic achievements. The seventeenth century was laced with Cavalier poets. One of those whose talents stood above his peers was Richard Lovelace, who was most famous for his poem “To Althea, From Prison”. Behind cell bars, he wrote this linguistic masterpiece tapping into a deep inner thought which resonates for all ages and displays the ideals of freedom, honor and carpe diem to his readers to the extent that it significantly influenced society.
The poem was written as his most famous work but it’s said his most famous line of the poem was “stone walls do not a prison make/nor iron bars a cage”. . While in prison, Lovelace is in essence telling Parliament that the man-made walls can not imprison his mind and his thoughts are still free to express while in physical captivity. Although this is meant to be a love poem, clearly this poignant line is in direct reference to Parliament’s decision to jail him. The poem goes on to state “If I have freedom in my love And in my soul am free” to let Parliament know that Lovelace still considers himself a free man even behind their man made stone walls.

This esoteric thought in this famous line “stone walls do not…” is a fine example of Cavalier poetry for which he is notable in his time. King Charles was a lover of fine arts and surrounded himself with such poets. Cavalier poetry was allegorical in nature and while expressing joy, love, and admiration of fine arts, was also used to support the political positions of the throne. Cavaliers were soldiers of the throne and therefore “Cavalier Poets” started as a mocking term and ended up being a description of the type of Poets that King Charles kept in his poli...

... middle of paper ...

...n made walls for the body, but the mind and soul are not bound by walls and are free to open expression and declaration of passion. From the start of this piece he declares he is tangled and bound only by Althea’s hair and fettered only by staring into her eyes. The last statement declares that the only thing he is bound by is Althea’s love and that love sets him free. Richard Lovelace voices his opinion and the message soars across the populous and flows through the hearts of his readers.

Works Cited

Jokinen, Anniina. "The Life of Richard Lovelace." Luminarium [February6, 2014].
Lansberry, Frederick, ed. Government and Politics in Kent, 1640-1914.
Woodbridge, Suffolk: Boydell Press, 2001. 13. [February 6, 2014].
Quiller-Couch, Arthur Thomas, Sir. The Oxford Book of English Verse. Oxford: Clarendon, 1919, [c1901]; Bartleby.com, 1999. [February 6, 2014].

Show More
Related

  • My Great-Grandfather's Slaves By Wendell Berry

    508 Words  | 2 Pages

    The poem, “My Great-Grandfather’s Slaves” by Wendell Berry, illustrates the guilt felt for the sins of a man’s ancestors. The poem details the horror for the speaker’s ancestors involvement in slavery and transitions from sympathy for the slaves to feeling enslaved by his guilt. Berry uses anaphora, motif, and irony, to express the speaker’s guilt and provide a powerful atmosphere to the poem.

    Read More

  • Behind Convict's Eyes by Cerceral Prison

    1338 Words  | 3 Pages

    I have to say the reading gave me a different outlook on what inmates? do and think while in prison. They become a number not a person and do have needs that have to be address. Addressing these needs will help in running an institution smoothly and more safely. Finally Anonymous makes a powerful statement in the writing of this book on some policies that should be changed in prisons. I really enjoyed reading this book and having maybe a new outlook in dealing with inmates.

    Read More

  • Let Prisoners Take College Courses By John J. Lennon

    1308 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the argument “Let Prisoners Take College Courses,” by John J. Lennon he argues that when incarcerated, if the college programs are not made readily available for more than the select few inmates, they will see more returns than they would otherwise. To support his thesis Lennon uses a variety of researched facts. For example: “In Sing Sing, for example, one forward-thinking educational program, launched in 1998, has a recidivism rate of less than 2 percent”(Lennon, 1). This shows that Lennon did some research on the subject. In addition to the factual evidence presented in the argument, Lennon uses two different human experiences. One experience was of himself. He spoke of what put him in jail and how being able to take college courses helped him discover who he was and feel remorse for his bad decisions of his past.

    Read More

  • The Narrator of The Yellow Wallpaper

    832 Words  | 2 Pages

    Under the orders of her husband, the narrator is moved to a house far from society in the country, where she is locked into an upstairs room. This environment serves not as an inspiration for mental health, but as an element of repression. The locked door and barred windows serve to physically restrain her: “the windows are barred for little children, and there are rings and things in the walls.” The narrator is affected not only by the physical restraints but also by being exposed to the room’s yellow wallpaper which is dreadful and fosters only negative creativity. “It is dull enough to confuse the eye in following, pronounced enough to constantly irritate and provoke study, and when you follow the lame uncertain curves for a little distance they suddenly commit suicide – plunge off at outrageous angles, destroy themselves in unheard of contradictions.”

    Read More

  • Comparing The Passionate Shepherd to His Love and Nymph's Reply to the Shepherd

    917 Words  | 2 Pages

    and rhythm: " Come live with me and be my love " and the rhyme scheme. of AABB running through both poems and effecting the readers opinion. and interpretation of the.. I enjoyed reading both poems which were interesting in the contrasting views of both poets. Whilst Raleigh's view of love is, I would guess

    Read More

  • Twelve Years a Slave by Solomon Northup

    1673 Words  | 4 Pages

    The topic of slavery in the United States has always been controversial, as many people living in the South were supportive of it and many people living in the North were against it. Even though it was abolished by the Civil War before the start of the 20th century, there are still different views on the subject today. Written in 1853, the book Twelve Years a Slave is a first person account of what it was like for Solomon Northup to be taken captive from his free life in the North and sold to a plantation as a slave in the South, and his struggle to regain his freedom. Through writing about themes of namelessness, inhumanity, suffering, distrust, defiance, and the desire for freedom, Northup was able to expose the experiences and realities of slavery.

    Read More

  • Comparison: Jean-Paul Sarte & Martin Buber's Theories

    1798 Words  | 4 Pages

    In order to explicate Sartre’s notion of intersubjectivity I will follow the progression that Sartre takes in Being and Nothingness. I will first distinguish between “being-for-itself” and “being-for-others”. Second, I will provide an explication of the subject’s encounter with the Other as an object. Third, I will explain the significance of “the look”. Here I will show how the look provides the foundation for the self. I will also show how the look of the Other affects the subject’s freedom.

    Read More

  • Gwen Harwood Alter Ego Analysis

    1456 Words  | 3 Pages

    The body and the spirit are connected through the entity of emotions and feelings, which are formed through experiences, understanding, and knowledge about the world. As Australian poet Gwen Harwood’s poem’s “Triste Triste and “Alter Ego” seeks to find and reconnect an individual’s inner-self again through both the body and spirit, Kenneth Slessor’s poems “Sleep” and “ ” explores how the separation of the body and spirit can be seen as a positive component towards the core experiences of human life. As each of the poems captivates a sense of intertwinement within the body and mind, the poems seem to reflect and mirror one another, drawing upon similar experiences and emotions which are conveyed through the persona’s journey.

    Read More

  • Analysis of Mending Wall by Robert Frost

    398 Words  | 1 Pages

    It describes how the conservative farmer follows traditions blindly and the isolated life followed by him. It reflects how people make physical barriers and that later in life come to their social life too. Where neighbor with pine tree, believes that this separation is needed as it is essential for their privacy and personal life. The poem explores a paradox in human nature. The first few lines reflect demolition of the wall, ?Something there is that doesn?t reflect love a wall? this reflects that nature itself does not like separation. The "something" referring to the intangible sense of social interaction. Furthermore "that sends the frozen-ground-swell under it" refers to Frost or to the author. Although the narrator does not want the wall, ironically, the mending of the wall brings the neighbors together and literally builds their friendship. An additional irony of the poem is that the only time these two neighbors sees each other is when they both mend the wall. The narrator sees the stubbornness in his neighbor, and uses the simile 'like an old-stone savage' to compare him to a stone-age man who 'moves in darkness', that is, set in his ways, and who is unlikely to change his views.

    Read More

  • A question of Freedom a Memoir of Learning, Survival, and Coming of Age in Prison by R. Dwayne Betts

    2042 Words  | 5 Pages

    In this critic, I will be analyzing and comparing two books. The first book is “A question of Freedom a Memoir of Learning, Survival, and Coming of Age in Prison” by R. Dwayne Betts. The second book is “Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing” by Ted Conover. In this comparison will first give a short summarization of both books. Second I will be answering the fallowing questions, what prisons are discussed? What types of prisoners are there- age, race, sex, level of crime? How current is the information? What are the conditions of the prisons? How are the prisoners treated? How are the guards and their viewpoints represented? How are the prisoners and their viewpoints represented? What forms of rehabilitation are there? What are the social relationships with other inmates? What opportunities are available to occupy prisoners? What point of view is the author taking – critical, Positive, does she/he write from the viewpoint of a guard, a prisoner? What evidence is/are the author’s points based on and how is the evidence presented - for example, first hand observations, Statistics? Also what changes, if any, are proposed or discussed by the author? How does the information in this book compare with what you’ve read in the text and articles and what you have observed on a class trip? Lastly what is your opinion of the information and viewpoint expressed in the book?

    Read More

  • Love As a Theme In a Poem

    892 Words  | 2 Pages

    Love is one of the main sources that move the world, and poetry is not an exception, this shows completely the feelings of someone. In “Litany” written by Billy Collins, “Love Poem” by John Frederick Nims, “Song” by John Donne, “Love” by Matthew Dickman and “Last Night” by Sharon Olds navigate around the same theme. Nevertheless, they differ in formats and figurative language that would be compared. For this reason, the rhetoric figures used in the poems will conduct us to understand the insights thought of the authors and the arguments they want to support.

    Read More

  • Alonzo Hickey

    618 Words  | 2 Pages

    Richard Lovelace was one of the most attractive and witty poets of the early 17th century. During this century his poems spoke of love and the honor of oneself to stand for what you truly stand for. Lovelace was an attractive looks and political mind that took him too many places in his life. Lovelace lived a life of poetic success in his life. Some of his life decisions brought him down from his former glory days. Lovelace political works led him to be a poet, political strategist and influential teacher (NNDB) .

    Read More

  • The Persuasive Tone of The Flea

    769 Words  | 2 Pages

    Witherspoon Alexander M., and Warnke Frank J., ed.. Seventeenth Century Prose and Poetry. New York: Harcourt, Brace & World, 1963, 2nd.

    Read More

  • Martin Eden by Jack London

    839 Words  | 2 Pages

    Jack London is among the many prolific writers from the United States of America who possess great artistic works ranging from great time novels ,short stories to plays just but to mention a few. He is fondly remembered for his great novel, ‘Martin Eden’ published in 1909. In the novel he tries to express the challenges faced by young writers who try to exploit their talent and passion in an area where little opportunities present themselves. This novel has stood the test of time with its relevance evident to date. It is a favorite to many young upcoming writers thus the main aim for writing this paper is to focus on the autobiography of Jack London as ‘Martin Eden’.

    Read More

  • John Donne Vs. The Elizabethan Lyric

    1572 Words  | 4 Pages

    John Donne delivered, like all of the other great poets of the renaissance era, an invaluable contribution to English literature. However, it is the uniqueness of this contribution that sets him apart from the rest. This statement seems somewhat ironic when one analyses the context of his life and the nature of his writing, for Donne is clearly the rebel in English poetry. He is the one poet that deliberately turned his back to the customs and trends of the time to deliver something so different to the reader that he will be remembered forever as a radical and unconventional genius. This is most probably the way that he would have liked to be remembered.

    Read More

More about To Althea, From Prison by Richard Lovelace

Open Document