On this day in 1642, courtier, soldier, and gentleman-poet, Richard Lovelace presented the Kentish Petition to Parliament -- a Royalist document calling for the restoration of the rights of King Charles I -- and was promptly imprisoned for it. His confinement produced "To Althea, From Prison"; this has become one of the most anthologized of 17th century poems, known especially for the poster-famous lines in the last stanza:
Quote:
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.
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