In the concluding lines of "To Lucasta, Going to the Wars" the speaker comes right out and says that he loves Lucasta; the poem is also full of words normally associated with love and affection (adore, embrace, sweet, dear). It is not only love for a woman that is a theme in this poem; love of honor also plays an important part, and appears to supersede love for a woman. What can we say? It's complicated.
Questions About Love
- Do you really think the speaker loves honor more than he loves Lucasta? Why or why not?
- Do you think Lucasta loves him back? How can you tell?
- What kind of love do the speaker and Lucasta share?
Chew on This
Try on an opinion or two, start a debate, or play the devil’s advocate.
"To Lucasta" suggests, at certain moments, that love and war are very similar. In fact, that's kind of the point of the whole shebang.
The speaker describes a very pure form of love and implies that such a sentiment is meaningless unless we are willing, on occasion, to make sacrifices.