Bloomington Herald

What a gentle and quaint train of thoughts is breathed forth in the sweet verse of Lovelace. How sunny must have been the mind that could compose such a poem as the following in prison. Lovelace was a man of wit and fashion, and was in great favor with the ladies. He ran through a large fortune and died in poverty. This song, it is said, was written when he was confined in the Gate House for presenting a petition "from the whole body of the county of Kent to the House of Commons, for restoring the King (Charles I.) to his rights." N. O. Pic.

When Love with unconfined wings
Hovers within my gates,
And my divine Althea brings
To whisper at my grates;
When I lie tangled in her hair,
And fettered to her eye,
The birds that wanton in the air,
Know no such liberty.

When flowing cups run swiftly round
With no allaying Thames,
Our careless heads with roses bound,
Our hearts with loyal flames;
When thirsty griefs in wine we steep,
When healths and draughts are free,
Fishes that tipple in the deep,
Know no such liberty.

When like committed linnets, I
With shriller throat shall sing
The sweetness, mercy, majesty,
And glories of my king;
When I shall voice aloud how good
He is, how great should be,
Entangled winds that curl the flood,
Know no such liberty.

Stone walls do not a prison make,
Nor iron bars a cage;
Minds innocent and quiet take
That for an heritage;
If I have freedom in my love,
And in my soul am free,
Angels alone, that soar above,
Enjoy such liberty.