Richard Lovelace (1618-1658). To Lucasta, Going to the Wars. William Stanley Braithwaite, ed. 1907. The Book of Elizabethan Verse

William Stanley Braithwaite, ed. The Book of Elizabethan Verse. 1907.

To Lucasta, Going to the Wars

By Richard Lovelace (1618–1658)


TELL 1 me not, Sweet, I am unkind,
That from the nunnery
Of thy chaste breast and quiet mind
To war and arms I fly.

True, a new mistress now I chase,	5
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;	10
I could not love thee, Dear, so much,
Loved I not Honour more.

Note 1. See note to No. 210. [back]