A Study Guide for Richard Lovelace's "To Lucasta, Going to the Wars"

By Gale and Cengage

A Study Guide for Richard Lovelace's "To Lucasta, Going to the Wars," excerpted from Gale's acclaimed Poetry for Students. This concise study guide includes plot summary; character analysis; author biography; study questions; historical context; suggestions for further reading; and much more. For any literature project, trust Poetry for Students for all of your research needs.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Cengage Learning - Gale
• Release date: Sep 2, 2016
• ISBN: 9781535841290

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To Lucasta, Going to the Wars

Richard Lovelace

1649

Introduction

To Lucasta, Going to the Wars (also often referred to as To Lucasta, Going to the Warres) was written by Richard Lovelace in about 1640. The poem appeared in 1649 in Lovelace's first full-length poetry collection, Lucasta. Most of Lovelace's poems were addressed to the same woman, though that woman was not a real person but rather a representative ideal. The Latin roots for the name Lucasta, lux casta, can be translated to mean pure light or chaste light. To Lucasta, Going to the Wars is often hailed as one of Lovelace's best and most famous poems, second only perhaps to his To Althea, From Prison (written circa 1642). The former poem sets forth much of Lovelace's political ideals, those that uphold honor before love. On a deeper level, this same ideal can be expressed as the need to stand up for one's beliefs even if the cost is the loss of, or separation from, that which is closest to one's heart. This idea is the crux of To Lucasta, Going to the Wars and one embodied by Lovelace's own life. The poet was no stranger to war and dissension; he was imprisoned for his political actions for seven weeks in 1642 and for several months from 1648 to 1649.

Author Biography

Lovelace was born in 1618 into an upper-class English family seated in Kent County, England. His exact birthplace is unknown, but scholars believe it may have been the Netherlands (specifically Holland) or perhaps Kent. Lovelace was the eldest son of Sir William and Anne Barne Lovelace. His father was a distinguished soldier, and the family's prosperous position was largely