TELL me not, Sweet, I am unkind,
That from the nunnery
Of thy chaste breasts, 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 honour more.
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Comments
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Given the fact that Lovelace was only 17 in 1635 what I say here is conjecture.
He was a "junior cavalier" at that time but that was probably only a nominal title as he was just starting his undergraduate education.
He did fight (and gain promotion) in the Bishop's War in 1639-40 for the King so possibly this is the war and the date is incorrect.
He wrote most of Lucasta in 1640 and it was published in 1649.
Jim -
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From guest maryam (contact)
would you please put more analysis or scholars' comments on the poem as soon as possible?i am really in need of such information.tnx -
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Maryam
We are all volunteers working on this site, spending hour upon hour researching and adding poets and their works.
We are not willing or able to do homework for you, that's your job. Use our resources here but the analysis is yours alone.
You will achieve so much for yourself by doing the work yourself. As for comments, they are placed there by any reader who feels like making comment.
If comments exist then please read theml they may be useful to you.
Good Luck in your studies.
Von - Oldpoetry
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an awesome poem
From guest Sarah Khayal (contact)
When Dr.Akram Habeeb,who gives us a metaphysical poetry course in the Islamic University of Gaza, told us to prepare a new poem Richard lovelace's poem "To Lucasata", i wondered what which "To Lucasta", is it "To Lucasta, Going to the Wars" or "To Lucasta, Going Beyond the Seas". So eventually, i decided to read the two and to make a comparison between both of them, so it would be a very interesting task and at the same time i would get much out of doing this. But before lunching, i prefered to read some biographical notes about Richard Lovelace himself, because it is the first time for me to a read a poem for him. Throughout browsing via websites, i got learned that Lovelace was wan of the most prominent Cavalier poets of the seventeenth century England, who was passionately dedicated to the royalist cause, and he was imprisoned twice for defending King Charles1. Then I started by reading "To Lucasta, going to the wars", actually, the title aroused a question into my mind, as i asked myself ,"who is Lucasta" it is for sure a name of a woman, but what kind of women?, is it a name for his mother,daughter, wife, or his girlfriend?. But, from reading the biographical information before, i knew that "Lucasta"is a name for a lady to whom Richard Lovelace had a love affair, this lady was called Lucy Sacheverel and i also knew that this lady,unfortunately, did not get married to Lovelace because she mistakenly thought that he was killed in the Battle of Dunkirk, so she got married to another man. I liked this poem from the deepest of my heart, because i found it clear and easy to be understood. I personally believe that the poet in this poem is trying to tell his beloved or his wife that he is going to the war, and he is commanding her not to charge him of being cruel or unkind for leaving her alone, but she must appreciate what he is doing, because he won't be able to love her truly, if he cannot love honor first. The line which i admired most in this poem is when the poet says, "Anew mistress now i chase." I think that he's personifyingthe war by decribing it as a new lover or mistress; it is,undoubtly, the biggest and the central conceit in this poem. Actually, I liked this poem loads because it's very unique and different from other previous poems which we have already studied, i liked also its subject matter as i guessed that the poet is trying to convey the message that love is not the most important thing in life, as there are many things which are of much importance, such as honor, duty, patriotism and dignity. When I finished reading To Lucasta,goint to the wars, I moved to the other poem for Richard Lovelace, which has merely a similar title, "To Lucasta, Going Beyond the Seas." After reading thepoem for just two time, i immediately felt that this poem has a very strong connection with John Donne's" Valediction Forbidden Mourning" as both poets are trying to assure or to calm their lovers down by saying that despite their physical separation and inspite of the space and the lands and the seas which stand between them, they are still together spiritually and intellcetually. I appreciate the poet's use of keywords like, "If, but, or ,then...etc" in order to give evidence or to justify his argument. I liked much the whole second stanza, because i felt that the poet is trying to tell his lover that he is not going to mourn or to grive their separation, in contrary, he will be still happy, because he has a strong faith that if they are now aparted on this earthly world, they will surely meet each other again in heaven. I liked the line when Lovelace says, "Unseen, Unknown, and greet as angels greet" it's a very amazing simile.Finally, i want to say that i found this poem very interesting one, not just for its simpleness but because of its graceful melody, as i think that it is a lyrical poem which can be sung. thanks, Sarah -
Superb
This piece has the same ring to it as a song I once heard about a rodeo cowboy. He hung up his spurs to raise a family, but the arena called him back. very sad, yet very human. -
Ah! I remember reading this in high school. It was the first poem that I read in school which seemed to be as uncliched as possible. When I couldn't stand Shakespeare and others, Lovelace was there. I don't know what it is I like so much about him or this piece, but he had this simplicity and truth. I think I love that. Well, this is a great love poem.
-Renee
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