To Althea, from Prison Richard Lovelace. 1618–1658
WHEN Love with unconfinèd wings
Hovers within my gates,
And my divine Althea brings
To whisper at the grates;
When I lie tangled in her hair 5
And fetter'd to her eye,
The birds that wanton in the air
Know no such liberty.
When flowing cups run swiftly round
With no allaying Thames, 10
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 15
Know no such liberty.
When, like committed linnets, I
With shriller throat shall sing
The sweetness, mercy, majesty,
And glories of my King; 20
When I shall voice aloud how good
He is, how great should be,
Enlargèd winds, that curl the flood,
Know no such liberty.
Stone walls do not a prison make, 25
Nor iron bars a cage;
Minds innocent and quiet take
That for an hermitage;
If I have freedom in my love
And in my soul am free, 30
Angels alone, that soar above,
Enjoy such liberty.
The simple romantic conceit of freedom within — even within a prison, is on full and free display in this well-know set from a lesser-known rake.
"Know no such liberty" is the refrain, belittling the living creatures, the angels, the wind, all of which the common man would consider the freest of elements in the world.
The poet's freedom is wrapped up, enclosed in the love of one "divine Althea", whose name in Greek refers to a "healing herb", indicating that the love of another contributes more to the weakened soul than physical space can afford.
WHEN Love with unconfinèd wings
Hovers within my gates,
And my divine Althea brings
To whisper at the grates;
When I lie tangled in her hair 5
And fetter'd to her eye,
The birds that wanton in the air
Know no such liberty.
Lovelace toys with captivity, mocking the very notion of bondage, when he describes the infinite pleasures of "Love with unconfinèd wings". The poet describes himself as "tangled" and "fetter'd", yet contrasts the "wanton", both sinful and licentious, freedom of the birds as unconsiderable in comparison with his love-locked embraces in the hair and eyes of his beloved.
When flowing cups run swiftly round
With no allaying Thames, 10
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 15
Know no such liberty.
Pushing past his disclosed liberty in bondaged love, the poet contrasts his free-flowing passions with the waters of London, the main thorough not just for the capital city, but for the nation and a global empire encompassing all five continents. "Thames" speaks of a concourse coursing through the world, not just carrying goods, but carrying even the greater good of civilization, the arts and Common Law, the legacies of which would prosper in faraway, erstwhile backward lands like Australian, South East Asia, and even the American Colonies.
The flow of nations then gives into the inner running of hearts on fire, heads covered with roses — in many ways, very trite metaphors dealing with love. Wine as the essence of pleasure and pressuring away one's sorrow, too, whose "draughts go free", flowing from the distant Antiquities of Dionysus and his wild bacchanalian priestesses, the Wedding of Cana, and even to the well-priced port of naval ally Portugal, with the fish of the deep, seen and unseen — the free-flowing libations of fish, frolic, and force are nothing compared to the freedom which frees freely in the love-laced poet.
When, like committed linnets, I
With shriller throat shall sing
The sweetness, mercy, majesty,
And glories of my King; 20
When I shall voice aloud how good
He is, how great should be,
Enlargèd winds, that curl the flood,
Know no such liberty.
"Committed linnets", old world, brownish finches, also styled in a naturalized bondage, cry out in glory to their King, or maker. Lovelace in turn may be referring to the Crown of England, which would connect very neatly with the red crown along the front and breast of the linnet. The "winds" that "curl the flood", pours forth the natural flow above the natural — though disastrous – floods which carry homes in undue seasons. The extended metaphor of capitalized King, indicating the King of Kings, contributes the more divine inspiration of the Flood which wiped away miscreant mankind, only to be curbed by the Holy Spirit, drying away the baptismal-like founts which served as the type of baptism for Jews and Christians. For all of this, the freedom of the poet's love is far greater.
Stone walls do not a prison make, 25
Nor iron bars a cage;
Minds innocent and quiet take
That for an hermitage;
If I have freedom in my love
And in my soul am free, 30
Angels alone, that soar above,
Enjoy such liberty.
From entangling love, to flowing rivers, raging floods, divinities, sureties, the flora and fauna of beautifies brimming forth in a dying world, the poet returns to his quaint and diminished prison cell, where yet he "enjoys such liberty", where the reader finds himself scanning some of the most oft-quoted yet frequently parsed lines in English literature. "Stones walls" and "iron bars" are once again mere nothings, demoted to what they are not, creating instead for this "innocent and quiet" mind a place of resonant, holy solace. The immensity of this quiescence is very possessing, yet diminished when not contrasted with the three previous stanzas. Empires, kings, the animal kingdom, nature, pleasure, civilization all are reduced to silence before the soul who has "freedom in love".
This love is a supernatural, not superficial love, one which makes akin to "angels alone that soar above". Whether they are alone, or only angels do soar above, it makes not difference to the poet, for the liberty of soul, prospered to him by the love of his beloved Althea, has pressed beyond the very walls where he sits.