"To Althea, From Prison" - the song version by Fairport Convention

That great old folk band, Fairport Convention's sung version of Richard Lovelace's famous poem is worth a listen for its phrasing and for how they managed to set this seventeenth century poem to music. In class we will be studying this poem with Lovelace's paradoxes on liberty  two weeks from now. Students should remember that AO1 and AO5ii are the most important assessment objectives. However, the others in between matter too, even if to a lesser degree.

"To Althea, From Prison" was written by Richard Lovelace, a royalist, Cavalier poet, 1618-1658. "When Parliament Puritans known as Roundheads (because of their short haircuts compared with the luxurious locks of the cavaliers) ousted Anglican bishops from Parliament, Lovelace presented a petition calling for their restoration. In response, Parliament imprisoned him in its Gate House." (From the Cummings Study Guide.)

http://www.cummingsstudyguides.net/Guides3/Althea.html