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Home  »  English Poetry I  »  237. To Lucasta, on Going to the Wars

English Poetry I: From Chaucer to Gray.
The Harvard Classics. 1909–14.

Richard Lovelace

237. To Lucasta, on Going to the Wars

TELL me not, Sweet, I am unkind

That from the nunnery

Of thy chaste breast and quiet mind,

To war and arms I fly.

True, a new mistress now I chase,

The first foe in the field;

And with a stronger faith embrace

A sword, a horse, a shield.

Yet this inconstancy is such

As you too shall adore;

I could not love thee, Dear, so much,

Loved I not Honour more.