“To Althea, from Prison” describes the speaker’s experience in prison where he has been confined for supporting his king. He says that though his body is imprisoned, his soul is free. He also discusses his love for a woman named Althea. The poem has four stanzas of eight lines each.
In the first stanza, the speaker describes Cupid flying down to his jail cell and bringing the sound of his beloved Althea’s voice. They embrace between the bars and he gets tangled up in her hair and locked to her eyes. This kind of love is almost like imprisonment itself, but he says that not even the birds of the air are as free as him.
The second stanza describes a drinking party in the jail. The speaker and his comrades (presumably other privileged men who have fought in favor of the king) share cups of wine that have not been watered down. They wear roses like crowns on their heads and have hearts that are committed to the king. Even though they are in jail, they are freer than the fish that swim in the sea.
In the third stanza, the speaker praises the glories of his king and compares himself to a finch singing in a cage, even if his voice is less beautiful than a bird’s. His song talks of how sweet, merciful, and grand the king is. When he sings this song of praise, he is as free as the winds that fly over the waves.
The final stanza begins with the famous argument that stone walls do not always make a place a prison. Similarly, the mere presence of iron bars does not make a cage. That is because true liberty is not about where one is but rather the state of one’s mind and spirit. If you are pure of heart, then a prison cell is more like a hermit’s sanctuary. The speaker says that his love makes him free in his soul. For that reason, even though his body is imprisoned, only angels flying in the heavens are as free as he is.
