Altheʹa (Divine)

The divine Althea of Richard Lovelace was Lucy Sacheverell, called by the poet, “Lucretia.”

“When love with unconflnëd wings

Hovers within my gates,

And my divine Althea brings

To wbisper at my grates.”

The “grates” referred to were the prison grates. Lovelace was thrown into prison by the Long Parliament for his petition from Kent in favour of the king.

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Entry taken from Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, edited by the Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D. and revised in 1895.