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				document : RICHARD LOVELACE, Poème : TO ALTHEA, FROM PRISON (A Althée, de sa prison)

Poème de Richard Lovelace (1618-1657) , de forme ababcdcd. Le poète l'avait rédigé en 1642 dans la prison de Gatehouse à Westminster, où il avait été jeté, suite à une pétition du Kent présentée à la chambre des communes. Il fut publié par Lucasta en 1649. Deux vers célèbres parlent de la suprématie de l'esprit sur la matière: "Stone walls do not a prison make, Nor iron bars a cage", "Les murs de pierre ne font pas une prison, ni les barreaux de fer une cage". En voici le texte original:

 

When Love with unconfined wing

Hovers within my gates,
And my divine Althea brings
To whisper at the grates;
When I lie tangled in her hair,
And fetter'd to her eye,
The gods, 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 grief in wine we steep,
When healths and draughts go 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,
Enlarged 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 hermitage;
If I have freedom in my love,
And in my soul am free,
Angels alone that soar above,
Enjoy such liberty.

 

Sources:

http://utl2.library.utoronto.ca/www/utel/rp/poems/ lovelace2.htm