Richard Lovelace was an English poet who wrote in the seventeenth century. He was a Cavalier poet who wrote mostly about love, drinking, and honor. He is also known for his political and military activities on behalf of King Charles I, especially during the English Civil War (1642–1651) between pro-monarchy and pro-parliamentary factions of society.
Lovelace was from a privileged family from the English region of Kent, where his family owned significant property. He also came from a long line of military men. Lovelace’s grandfather was an English knight who fought in Ireland and his father fought for the Stuart royal family in Holland. At age 11, Lovelace enrolled in Sutton's Foundation at Charterhouse School in London. He then received the honorary position of Gentleman Wayter Extraordinary, which gave him access to King Charles I and the queen. He attended Gloucester College at Oxford University until the king and queen intervened to confer a Master of Arts degree on him at 18 years old.
Lovelace was as well known for his political views and associations as for his writings. He was a royalist and defended the absolute rule of the king. He was an anti-Parliamentarian, which means he thought that no human-made laws could constrain the monarch, whose power was given by God. In fact, he was a poet-in-arms, taking up weapons on behalf of King Charles I during the English Civil War, a period when pro-Parliamentarians tried to challenge the king’s power. In 1639, Lovelace joined his benefactor Lord Goring, a chief of the Royalist army, in the Bishops’ Wars in Scotland. He wrote poems about this experience, most famously in "To Lucasta, Going to the Warres" (1640). Lovelace came back to his home in Kent that year. In 1641, he joined a group trying to destroy a petition in favor of the Bishops' Exclusion Bill. Lovelace did not want the Church of England’s clergy to be regulated in this way.
Lovelace wanted the king and his church to return their ancient rights and privileges. To this end, he took an action that would land him in deep trouble. In 1642, he presented a pro-Royalist petition to the House of Commons. Known as the Kentish Petition, it supported the church and called on Parliament to come to an agreement with the king. Parliament had been having copies of this petition burned and punishing those who shared it. Unsurprisingly, Lovelace was imprisoned for bringing this petition to the government. In April of 1642, he was sent to Westminster Gatehouse Prison in London. He remained there until he made bail in June. It was during this time that Lovelace is thought to have written "To Althea, from Prison.”
After Lovelace was released from jail, the English Civil War began in earnest. However, because of the conditions of his bail, he was unable to join the conflict within England. Instead, in September he went to Holland and France to fight alongside General Goring. When he came back to England, the monarchy had been abolished and the country was ruled by commoner Oliver Cromwell. In 1648, Lovelace was arrested alongside other well-known Royalists as Parliament went after the king. By the time Lovelace was released, his beloved Charles I had been beheaded after a public trial.
After the death of the king, Lovelace focused on his poetry. He released his first collection Lucasta in 1649. Many scholars think this was a pseudonym for Lovelace’s fiancée Lucy Sacheverell. Many of his poems are about his love for women and follow typical Cavalier themes like love, drinking, chivalry, war, and honor. He also wrote many poems about nature in the pastoral mode. Some of these also had political content. The most famous of these is “The Grasse-Hopper,” which discusses what happens to this summer insect under the “winter” of Puritan rule after the king’s death. In addition to roughly 200 poems, he also wrote the tragedy The Soldier and an unpublished drama. Though he was from a wealthy family, he is thought to have ended his life in poverty after the defeat of his political cause. His second collection Lucasta: Postume Poems came out after his death in 1657.
For a long time, Lovelace was seen as a minor poet in the history of English poetry. However, since the 1970s, scholars have shown new interest in his work. His poems are widely anthologized in collections of English verse. "To Althea, from Prison” remains his most famous poem.
"The Scrutiny" or "The Scrutinie", in its older English form, is a poem written by the English poet Richard Lovelace. The year of publication of this particular poem is unknown, but Richard Lovelace wrote poems throughout his entire life, which...
Richard Lovelace was an English poet and playwright during the Renaissance period and a notable figure involved with the Royal military and petitions regarding the Church of England which led to his imprisonment.
The Grasshopper is a poem Richard...
"The Scrutiny" is a poem written by Richard Lovelace, a 17th Century English poet. Lovelace was a cavalier poet who is well-known for his poems "To Lucasta, Going to the Warres," and "To Althea, from Prison." Unlike these poems, "The Scrutiny" is...
“To Althea, from Prison” is a poem by the English poet Richard Lovelace. It is about the poet’s experience in prison for his support of King Charles I. This occurred at a time in England when pro-royalty and pro-parliament factions were in...
