Richard Lovelace

Born in 1617 or 1618 into a prominent Kentish family, he was educated at Charterhouse and at Oxford, and became known as one of the Cavalier poets of 17th-century England. He wrote with polish and musical ease, often bringing together themes of love, honor, friendship, and loyalty to the crown.

His life was closely tied to the English Civil War. A committed Royalist, he supported Charles I and was imprisoned after presenting a petition on the king’s behalf; that experience gave rise to his most famous poem, To Althea, from Prison. Another celebrated lyric, To Lucasta, Going to the Wars, captures the tension between private love and public duty.

Later accounts describe his fortunes declining badly in the years after the war, and he died young in London, usually dated to 1657. Even with a relatively small body of work, he became the classic image of the Cavalier poet: graceful, courtly, and marked by the upheavals of his age.