Lovelace, Richard

Lovelace, Richard

▪ English poet
born 1618
died 1657, London
 English poet, soldier, and Royalist whose graceful lyrics and dashing career made him the prototype of the perfect Cavalier.

      Lovelace was probably born in the Netherlands, where his father was in military service. He was educated at Charterhouse and Oxford, and at age 16 or possibly a little later he wrote The Scholars, a comedy acted at Whitefriars, of which the prologue and epilogue survive. He took part in the expeditions to Scotland (1639–40) at the time of the rebellions against Charles I. During this period he is said to have written a tragedy, The Soldier, but there is no certain evidence of this.

      Returning to his estates in Kent, Lovelace was chosen to present (1642) a Royalist petition to a hostile House of Commons. For this he was imprisoned in the Gatehouse, London, where he wrote “To Althea, from Prison,” which contains the well-known lines: “Stone walls do not a prison make/Nor iron bars a cage.” He passed much of the next four years abroad and was wounded fighting for the French against the Spaniards at Dunkerque in 1646. In 1648 he was again imprisoned. During his imprisonment, Lovelace prepared Lucasta (1649) for the press.

      The antiquarian and historian Anthony à Wood says he died in misery and poverty in 1658, but an elegy on him was printed in 1657. He had certainly sold much of his estates, but none of the elegies supports the story of his unhappy death.

      The only other publication of his work was Lucasta; Posthume Poems of Richard Lovelace, Esq. (1659), edited by his brother Dudley, including Elegies, and dated 1660.

Additional Reading
Manfred Weidhorn, Richard Lovelace (1970).

* * *


Universalium. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем решить контрольную работу

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Lovelace, Richard — (1618 1658)    The handsome son of a wealthy knight, he was the prototype of the ideal Cavalier. Lovelace was born in London or possibly in the Netherlands, where his father was in military service. He was educated at Charterhouse School and… …   British and Irish poets

  • Lovelace,Richard — Love·lace (lŭvʹlās ), Richard. 1618 1657?. English Cavalier poet who is noted especially for the lyrics “To Althea, from Prison” and “To Lucasta, Going to the Wars.” * * * …   Universalium

  • Lovelace, Richard — ► (1619 58) Poeta lírico inglés. Autor de A Althea desde la prisión y A Lucasta, camino de las guerras …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • LOVELACE, RICHARD —    English cavalier and poet, born at Woolwich, heir of great wealth, but lost his all in supporting the royal cause, and died a ruined man; was the handsomest man of his time, and the author of a collection of poems entitled Lucasta (1618 1658) …   The Nuttall Encyclopaedia

  • Lovelace, Richard — (1618 1658)    Poet, b. at Woolwich, s. of Sir William L., was ed. at Oxf., where he is described by Anthony Wood as the most amiable and beautiful person that eye ever beheld. He was an enthusiastic Royalist, and spent his whole fortune in… …   Short biographical dictionary of English literature

  • Lovelace — Lovelace, Richard …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • Richard Lovelace — Richard Lovelace. For the MP and peer Richard Lovelace, Lord Lovelace of Hurley, Berks, see Richard Lovelace, 1st Baron Lovelace. Richard Lovelace (1618–1657) was an English poet in the seventeenth century. He was a cavalier poet who fought on… …   Wikipedia

  • Richard lovelace — Pour les articles homonymes, voir Richard et Lovelace. Richard Lovelace Richard Lovelace (1618–1657 ou 1658) était un poète anglais né à …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Richard Lovelace — Saltar a navegación, búsqueda Richard Lovelace Richard Lovelace (1618 1657 o 1658) fue un poeta inglés, nacido en Lovelace place, en el condado de Kent. Fue uno de los poetas caballeros y un destacado realista. Apoyó al rey Carlos I durante la… …   Wikipedia Español

  • Richard Lovelace — Pour les articles homonymes, voir Richard et Lovelace. Richard Lovelace Richard Lovelace (1618–1657 ou 1658) était un poète angla …   Wikipédia en Français

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”