To Althea, from prison | When Love with unconfined wings

To Althea, from prison

Language: English

When Love with unconfined wings
  Hovers within my Gates;
And my divine Althea brings
  To whisper at the Grates:
When I lye tangled in her haire,
  [And]¹ fetterd to her eye;
The Gods, that wanton in the Aire,
  Know no such Liberty.

When flowing Cups run swiftly round
  With no allaying Thames,
Our carelesse heads with Roses [bound]²,
  Our hearts with Loyall Flames;
When thirsty griefe in Wine we steepe,
  When Healths and draughts go free,
Fishes that tipple in the Deepe,
  Know no such Libertie.

When (like committed Linnets) I
  With shriller throat shall sing
The sweetnes, Mercy, Majesty,
  And glories of my KING;
When I shall voyce aloud, how Good
  He is, how Great should be;
[Inlarged]³ Winds that curle the Flood,
  Know no such Liberty.

Stone Walls doe not a Prison make,
  Nor I'ron bars a Cage;
Mindes innocent and quiet take
  That for an Hermitage;
If I have freedome in my Love,
  And in my soule am free;
Angels alone that sore above,
  Injoy such Liberty.

Available sung texts: ← What is this?

• C. Parry • R. Quilter

C. Parry sets stanzas 1-2, 4

View original text (without footnotes)
¹ Parry: "Or"
² Parry: "crowned"
³ Quilter: "enlargèd"

Text Authorship:

by Richard Lovelace (1618 - 1658), "To Althea, from prison" [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

by J. Frederick Keel (1871 - 1954), "To Althea, from prison" [sung text not yet checked]
by Charles Hubert Hastings Parry, Sir (1848 - 1918), "To Althea, from prison", 1895, published 1895, stanzas 1-2,4 [ voice and piano ], from English Lyrics, Third Set, no. 3 [sung text checked 1 time]
by Roger Quilter (1877 - 1953), "To Althea, from prison", op. 28 no. 4 (1925), published 1926 [ voice and piano ], from Five Jacobean Lyrics, no. 4, London, Boosey [sung text checked 1 time]
by Maude Valérie White (1855 - 1937), "To Althea from prison", published 1882 [ voice and piano ], London: Boosey & Co. [sung text not yet checked]

Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

GER German (Deutsch) (Adolf von Marées) , "Der Cavalier im Gefängnis"

Researcher for this page: Ted Perry

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 32
Word count: 174