“To Lucasta, Going to the Wars” Introduction

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“To Lucasta, Going to the Wars” Summary

“To Lucasta, Going to the Wars” Themes

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  Love, Honor, and Sacrifice

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Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “To Lucasta, Going to the Wars”

• Lines 1-4

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

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 5-6

  True, a new mistress now I chase,
  The first foe in the field;

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 7-8

  And with a stronger faith embrace
  A sword, a horse, a shield.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 9-12

  Yet this inconstancy is such
  As you too shall adore;
  I could not love thee (Dear) so much,
  Lov’d I not Honour more.

  

  

  

  

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“To Lucasta, Going to the Wars” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

• Apostrophe

  

  

  

  

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• Alliteration

  

  

  

  

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• Consonance

  

  

  

  

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• Assonance

  

  

  

  

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• Metaphor

  

  

  

  

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• Asyndeton

  

  

  

  

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• Enjambment

  

  

  

  

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• Paradox

  

  

  

  

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“To Lucasta, Going to the Wars” Vocabulary

Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.

• Nunnery
• Thy
• Chaste
• Arms
• Mistress
• Foe
• Inconstancy
• Thee
• Lov'd

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Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “To Lucasta, Going to the Wars”

• Form

• Meter

• Rhyme Scheme

“To Lucasta, Going to the Wars” Speaker

“To Lucasta, Going to the Wars” Setting

Literary and Historical Context of “To Lucasta, Going to the Wars”

More “To Lucasta, Going to the Wars” Resources

• External Resources

  • A Brief Biography — Read a biography of Lovelace from the Poetry Foundation and find links to more of his poems.

  • The Poem Aloud — Listen to a reading of the poem.

  • The English Civil War — An introduction to the English Civil War, in which Lovelace fought.

  • The Cavalier Poets — Learn more about the Royalist writers, like Lovelace, known as the "Cavalier poets."

  • A Portrait of Lovelace — Take a look at a portrait of Lovelace that was published in a posthumous 1795 edition of Lucasta. 

• LitCharts on Other Poems by Richard Lovelace

  • The Scrutiny

  • To Althea, from Prison