To Althea, From Prison Essay Questions

How does the background of the English Civil War help us to understand the poem?

The English Civil War was a conflict lasting from 1642 to 1651 between a royalist faction in favor of the king and a parliamentarian faction. Lovelace was a royalist and a courtier of King Charles I. It was his support for the monarchy that got Lovelace arrested. While we cannot completely conflate Lovelace with the speaker of the poem, the mention of the king in the third stanza makes the poem's politics apparent. The speaker compares himself to a caged bird singing as he sings the praises of his king.

What do the famous lines “Stone walls do not a prison make, / Nor iron bars a cage" mean?

The most frequently quoted lines of this poem make an argument about freedom. The speaker argues that being imprisoned is not a physical but a mental state. That is, simply being behind stone walls and an iron cage does not mean one has been captured. The important thing is whether one's mind or soul is free. Due to his love for the king and a woman, the speaker is as free as the birds he mentions in the first stanza.

Word choice is of vital importance in the poem’s thematic construction. How does the poet convey the paradoxical tension of imprisonment versus freedom through precise word choices?

The poem is based on a paradox. The speaker asserts that the decision to imprison him for the purpose of restricting his freedom and liberty has had the exact opposite effect. Physical confinement has actually resulted in a sense of unlimited freedom he has never before experienced. To maintain this dramatic tension, the poem places in opposition a series of words, each of which connotes for the reader either the image of restricted freedom or the image of unrestricted movement as a metaphor for freedom. These words include: "grates," "tangled," "fettered," "committed," "stone walls," and "bars." Placed in opposition to this imagery are those words connoting unrestricted ability to move: "unconfined," "hover," "wanton," "flowing," and "soar."

What elements does this poem have in common with Cavalier poetry?

Cavalier poets were courtiers and thus aspired to be or were part of the king's court. They were upper-class and privileged people who wrote witty poems focused on women, drinking, and honor. In this first stanza, we see this emphasis on erotic love as the speaker imagines his lover coming to visit him. In the second stanza, we see a pro-royalist symposium where a group of male friends drink alcohol and revel. Finally, in the third stanza, we see the emphasis on king and country. The speaker does not feel imprisoned when he is praising his king.

How do the natural images function in the poem?

The poem uses several images from nature. These include birds, fish, and winds. These are all used as expressions of pure liberty. The speaker argues that just as birds fly free in the sky or fish swim happily in the deep, he is free in prison because he has a pure heart and mind. There is also an interesting contrast between these images of movement versus the stasis we would expect from a man trapped in a prison cell. However, faith and honor allow one to feel as free as if one were outdoors.