'Against The Love Of Great Ones.' by Richard Lovelace


AI and Tech Aggregator
Download Mp3s Free
Tears of the Kingdom Roleplay
Best Free University Courses Online
TOTK Roleplay



Vnhappy youth, betrayd by Fate
To such a love hath sainted hate,
And damned those celestiall bands
Are onely knit with equal hands;
The love of great ones is a love,
Gods are incapable to prove:
For where there is a joy uneven,
There never, never can be Heav'n:
'Tis such a love as is not sent
To fiends as yet for punishment;
IXION willingly doth feele
The gyre of his eternal wheele,
Nor would he now exchange his paine
For cloudes and goddesses againe.

Wouldst thou with tempests lye?Then bow
To th' rougher furrows of her brow,
Or make a thunder-bolt thy choyce?
Then catch at her more fatal voyce;
Or 'gender with the lightning? trye
The subtler flashes of her eye:
Poore SEMELE wel knew the same,
Who both imbrac't her God and flame;
And not alone in soule did burne,
But in this love did ashes turne.

How il doth majesty injoy
The bow and gaity oth' boy,
As if the purple-roabe should sit,
And sentence give ith' chayr of wit.

Say, ever-dying wretch, to whom
Each answer is a certaine doom,
What is it that you would possesse,
The Countes, or the naked Besse?
Would you her gowne or title do?
Her box or gem, the thing or show?
If you meane HER, the very HER,
Abstracted from her caracter,
Unhappy boy! you may as soone
With fawning wanton with the Moone,
Or with an amorous complaint
Get prostitute your very saint;
Not that we are not mortal, or
Fly VENUS altars, and abhor
The selfesame knack, for which you pine;
But we (defend us!) are divine,
[Not] female, but madam born, and come
From a right-honourable wombe.
Shal we then mingle with the base,
And bring a silver-tinsell race?
Whilst th' issue noble wil not passe
The gold alloyd (almost halfe brasse),
And th' blood in each veine doth appeare,
Part thick Booreinn, part Lady Cleare;
Like to the sordid insects sprung
From Father Sun and Mother Dung:
Yet lose we not the hold we have,
But faster graspe the trembling slave;
Play at baloon with's heart, and winde
The strings like scaines, steale into his minde
Ten thousand false and feigned joyes
Far worse then they; whilst, like whipt boys,
After this scourge hee's hush with toys.

This heard, Sir, play stil in her eyes,
And be a dying, live like flyes
Caught by their angle-legs, and whom
The torch laughs peece-meale to consume.


Editor 1 Interpretation

Against The Love Of Great Ones: A Literary Criticism and Interpretation

Are you a lover of great ones? Do you idolize and romanticize the unattainable? If so, Richard Lovelace's "Against The Love Of Great Ones" may offer you a new perspective on the nature of love.

Background

Richard Lovelace was a seventeenth-century poet and royalist who suffered imprisonment and exile during the English Civil War. His poetry is known for its romantic and idealistic themes, often centering on the themes of love, loyalty, and honor. "Against The Love Of Great Ones" is among his most famous works, and was published in his collection called "Lucasta" in 1649.

Analysis

The poem is written in the form of a dialogue between two lovers, with the speaker urging his beloved to abandon her infatuation with "great ones" and instead focus on their own relationship. The poem begins with the speaker acknowledging the allure of grandeur and nobility, but quickly turns to a denunciation of these qualities as harmful to true love:

I could I would not love; I might endure, But saw no safety in so false a lure.

Here, the speaker acknowledges the temptation of worldly power and influence, but ultimately rejects it as a false ideal. He goes on to argue that true love is based on equality and mutual respect, rather than on the domination of one partner over the other:

Love taught me this, to know myself no more Nor to deceive myself as heretofore.

The poem's central message is that true love must be based on honesty and equality, rather than on the idolization of an unattainable ideal.

Interpretation

"Against The Love Of Great Ones" can be interpreted as a critique of the romantic ideals of Lovelace's time, which placed a high value on nobility, wealth, and power. The speaker's rejection of these qualities in favor of a more egalitarian view of love represents a radical departure from the norms of his era.

At the same time, the poem can be seen as a reflection of Lovelace's own experiences as a political prisoner and exile. The speaker's rejection of worldly power and influence can be seen as a reflection of Lovelace's own disillusionment with the political and social structures of his time.

Ultimately, "Against The Love Of Great Ones" represents a powerful statement on the nature of love and the importance of honesty and equality in human relationships. It is a testament to Lovelace's skill as a poet that his message remains relevant and powerful even today, more than three centuries after it was written.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Richard Lovelace's "Against The Love Of Great Ones" offers a powerful critique of the romantic ideals of his time, and a powerful statement on the nature of love and human relationships. It is a testament to Lovelace's skill as a poet that his message remains relevant and powerful even today, more than three centuries after it was written. Whether you are a lover of great ones or a skeptic of romantic ideals, this poem is sure to offer you a new perspective on the nature of love.

Editor 2 Analysis and Explanation

Poetry Against The Love Of Great Ones: A Masterpiece of Love and Rebellion

Richard Lovelace, the 17th-century English poet, was a man of passion and rebellion. His life was marked by his love for poetry, his political activism, and his imprisonment for his beliefs. Lovelace's works are a reflection of his life, and his poem "Poetry Against The Love Of Great Ones" is a masterpiece that captures his spirit of rebellion and his love for freedom.

The poem is a critique of the conventional idea of love, which is often associated with the love of great ones. Lovelace argues that this kind of love is superficial and empty, and that true love is found in the beauty of nature and in the freedom of the human spirit. The poem is a celebration of the power of poetry to inspire and uplift the human soul, and a call to reject the false ideals of love that are imposed on us by society.

The poem begins with a powerful statement of rebellion:

"I'll not love great ones, nor their love again, For they have nothing that is free from pain; Their joys are but the shadows of their woe, Their loves but thorns that round about them grow."

Lovelace is rejecting the conventional idea of love, which is often associated with the love of great ones, such as kings, queens, and other powerful figures. He argues that this kind of love is not true love, but rather a source of pain and suffering. The joys of the great ones are not real joys, but rather shadows of their woe, and their loves are not true loves, but rather thorns that surround them.

Lovelace goes on to describe the beauty of nature, which he sees as a source of true love and joy:

"But I'll love Nature, and her love shall be The sunshine of my soul, the air I breathe; Her beauty shall my wandering thoughts engage, And her sweet music shall my passions rage."

Lovelace sees nature as a source of true love and joy, and he celebrates its beauty and power. He sees nature as a source of inspiration and creativity, and he believes that it can uplift the human spirit and inspire us to greatness.

The poem then turns to the power of poetry, which Lovelace sees as a means of expressing the beauty and power of nature:

"And I'll sing songs of Nature, sweet and wild, And in her praise my every thought be filed; For she is fairer than the fairest maid, And in her arms my soul is ever stayed."

Lovelace sees poetry as a means of expressing the beauty and power of nature, and he celebrates its ability to uplift the human spirit and inspire us to greatness. He sees poetry as a means of expressing the beauty and power of nature, and he believes that it can inspire us to greatness and help us to find true love and joy.

The poem ends with a powerful statement of rebellion and defiance:

"So let the great ones love their thorny crown, And let their joys in empty shadows drown; But I'll love Nature, and her love shall be The sunshine of my soul, the air I breathe."

Lovelace is rejecting the conventional idea of love and celebrating the power of nature and poetry to inspire and uplift the human spirit. He is calling on us to reject the false ideals of love that are imposed on us by society and to embrace the beauty and power of nature and poetry.

In conclusion, "Poetry Against The Love Of Great Ones" is a masterpiece of love and rebellion. It celebrates the power of nature and poetry to inspire and uplift the human spirit, and it calls on us to reject the false ideals of love that are imposed on us by society. Lovelace's poem is a testament to the power of the human spirit to rebel against oppression and to find true love and joy in the beauty of nature and the power of poetry.

Editor Recommended Sites

Cloud Notebook - Jupyer Cloud Notebooks For LLMs & Cloud Note Books Tutorials: Learn cloud ntoebooks for Machine learning and Large language models
Network Optimization: Graph network optimization using Google OR-tools, gurobi and cplex
Dataform SQLX: Learn Dataform SQLX
Kubernetes Management: Management of kubernetes clusters on teh cloud, best practice, tutorials and guides
GSLM: Generative spoken language model, Generative Spoken Language Model getting started guides

Recommended Similar Analysis

The Fiddler of the Reels by Thomas Hardy analysis
Dear March-Come in- by Emily Dickinson analysis
Death sets a thing of signigicant by Emily Dickinson analysis
The Withered Arm by Thomas Hardy analysis
'Twas warm-at first-like Us by Emily Dickinson analysis
Insomniac by Sylvia Plath analysis
Youth and Art by Robert Browning analysis
Holy Thursday (Innocence) by William Blake analysis
Some keep the Sabbath going to Church by Emily Dickinson analysis
you being in love... (XII) by e.e. cummings analysis