Editing Richard Lovelace (poet) (section)

==Politics and prison==
Lovelace's poetry was often influenced by his experiences with politics and association with important figures of his time. At the age of nineteen he contributed a verse to a volume of elegies commemorating Princess Katharine.<ref name="lovelace">Wilkinson, C.h., ed. The Poems of Richard Lovelace. Oxford, Great Britain: Oxford, 1963.</ref> In 1639 Lovelace joined the regiment of Lord Goring, serving first as a senior ensign and later as a captain in the [[Bishops' Wars]]. This experience inspired "Sonnet. To Generall Goring", the poem "[[To Lucasta, Going to the Warres]]" and the [[tragedy]] ''The Soldier''. On his return to his home in Kent in 1640, Lovelace served as a country gentleman and a justice of the peace, encountering civil turmoil over religion and politics.<ref name="lovelace"/>

In 1641, Lovelace led a group of men to seize and destroy a petition for the abolition of [[Anglicanism|Episcopal]] rule, which had been signed by 15,000 people. The following year he presented the [[House of Commons of England|House of Commons]] with [[Sir Edward Dering, 1st Baronet|Dering's]] pro-[[Cavalier|Royalist]] petition which was supposed to have been burned. These actions resulted in Lovelace's first imprisonment.<ref name="lovelace"/> He was shortly released on bail, with the stipulation that he avoid communication with the House of Commons without permission. This prevented Lovelace, who had done everything to prove himself during the Bishops' Wars, from participating in the first phase of the [[English Civil War]]. This first experience of imprisonment brought him to write one of his best known lyrics, "[[To Althea, from Prison]]", in which he illustrates his noble and [[paradox]]ical nature. Lovelace did everything he could to remain in the king's favour despite his inability to participate in the war.

During the political chaos of 1648 he was again imprisoned, this time for nearly a year. When he was released in April 1649, the king had been executed and Lovelace's cause seemed lost. As in his previous incarceration, this experience led to creative production—this time in the cause of spiritual freedom, as reflected in the release of his first volume of poetry, ''Lucasta''.<ref name="lovelace"/> "Lucasta" was Lovelace's Muse, thought to be Lucy Sacheverell.

Lovelace died in 1657 and was buried in [[St Bride's Church]] in [[Fleet Street]] in the [[City of London]].