To Lucasta, Going to the Wars / Richard Lovelace

         
To Lucasta, Going to the Wars

I

Tell me not, sweet, I am unkind,
    That from the nunnery
Of thy chaste breast and quiet mind
    To war and arms I fly.

II

True: a new Mistress now I chase,
    The first foe in the field;
And with a stronger faith embrace
    A sword, a horse, a shield.

III

Yet this inconstancy is such,
    As you too shall adore;
I could not love thee, dear, so much,
    Loved I not Honour more.

---
Richard Lovelace (1618-1657)
from Lucasta, 1649

[Poem is in the public domain worldwide]

Richard Lovelace biography

"To Lucasta, Going to the Wars," read by Tom O'Bedlam. Courtesy SpokenVerse.