Lucasta

Lucasta is the representative poetry collection of the seventeenth-century English Cavalier poet Richard Lovelace (1617–c. 1657), first published in London in 1649 under the full title Lucasta: Epodes, Odes, Sonnets, Songs, &c. To Which is Added Aramantha, A Pastorall. The name "Lucasta" is generally thought to be the poet's poetic name for his beloved Lady Lucy Sacheverell; some scholars, however, believe it may be a purely literary invention. The collection gathers works in various meters—odes, sonnets, songs, and epigrams—and appends the pastoral drama Aramantha. Among them, "To Lucasta, Going to the Wars" is still recited today for its line "I could not love thee, dear, so much, / Loved I not honour more," and has become a classic expression of the Cavalier view of love and honour. Lovelace was a staunch Royalist and was imprisoned twice; "To Althea, from Prison," written in jail, left the famous lines "Stone walls do not a prison make, / Nor iron bars a cage." His style continues Ben Jonson's classical tradition, with polished and brisk language and a meditative quality akin to the Metaphysical poets, making this an important text for understanding the literature and aristocratic ethos of the English Civil War period. In 1659 his brother compiled and published a posthumous collection of entirely different contents, Lucasta: Posthume Poems.