In the years around the English Civil War, (1642 – 1651) seduction lyrics, such as Marvell’s ‘To His Coy Mistress’, and poems in favour of sexual freedom were increasingly popular.

The theme is as much political as sexual. Supporters of King Charles I in the Civil War, opposed the type of puritanism embodied by their opponents, the Parliamentarians or ‘Roundheads’. So, in this poem Lovelace presents himself as a charmer, a supporter of sexual liberty and pursuit of pleasure, as appropriate to a Cavalier.

In ‘The Scrutiny’ Richard Lovelace argues his point cleverly. Though by today’s standards and sexual politics few would agree with him, in the social and political context it makes sense.

Note that poems were often set to music at the time. The drama and immediacy of this work would have been effective as an entertainment.

Structure
The poem comprises four stanzas of five lines each, known as quintains. The rhyme scheme is consistent throughout; ABABB.

Language and Imagery
The lines oscillate between iambic tetrameter — that is, four metrical iambs or feet per line, and three or four trochaic feet per line. The former places the stress on the second syllable, as in ‘in thy brown hair’; the latter the stress is on the first syllable, as in ‘Lady it is …’

The change of metre could suggest the speaker’s inability to remain with one woman, but to seek liaisons elsewhere.

The imagery is concerned with time — what can change in a few hours — and exploring and digging, as in ploughing land and digging up minerals.