To Lucasta, Going to the Wars Questions

Bring on the tough stuff - there’s not just one right answer.

  1. If you were dating Lovelace, would you be persuaded by his reasons in this poem? Do you buy his argument that loving honor even more than you is what makes him able to love you so much? Why or why not? And does that even make sense?
  2. Are the speaker's reasons for going to war acceptable? In fact, what exactly are his reasons for going to war?
  3. What do you think is the relationship of form and content in this poem? Why write it in ballad meter? Is this a song of some sort? 
  4. What's with calling Lucasta's "chaste breast" a "nunnery"? Are these two even romantically involved, if he's comparing her body parts to a nunnery?
  5. Does this poem seem self-serving in any way? How so? (Or how not so?)