ArchivedLove
Poems

When love with unconfined wings
...Hovers within my gates,
And my divine Althea brings
...To whisper at the grates;
When I lie tangled in her hair
...And fettered to her eye,
The birds that wanton in the air
...Know no such liberty.

When flowing cups run swiftly round
...With no allaying Thames,
Our careless heads with roses bound,
...Our hearts with loyal flames;
When thirst grief in wine we steep,
...When healths and draughts go free,
Fishes that tipple in the deep
...Know no such liberty. . .

Stone walls do not a prison make,
...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,
Angels alone, that soar above,
Enjoy such liberty.

.....from To Althea, From Prison by Richard Lovelace (1618-1658)