Thematic comparison of Lovelace to Lucasta and Donne's SongModern perceptions of love as expressed in literature - with gender equality and the abandonment of games expected roles - have not arbitrarily become ubiquitous, but are the product of centuries of gradual progression. The 17th century in particular provided a basis for this progression, as poets first began to question the dictated structure and male dominance of the Elizabethan era. Two 17th-century poems, Richard Lovelace's cavalier "To Lucasta on Going to the Wars" and John Donne's metaphysical "Song," each focused on the pain inflicted by different aspects of love, employ tactics emblematic of poetry of the century. to demonstrate the confusing nature of love. Both of these ostensible attempts to comfort their audiences by universalizing and morally justifying the dire realities of love ultimately fail and leave their audiences with nothing but heightened pain. "To Lucasta", Lovelace's attempt to justify her departure from her lover Lucasta for the British Civil War by subjecting her sensual love to the spotlight, fails in its illogical and contradictory nature, and recognizes the endurance capacity of the love to victimize man, while "Song", by trying to relieve the pain of an ephemeral love, only highlights the inevitably elusive nature of love. Lovelace, one of the most prominent horseman poets of the 17th century, attempts to use his special situation with his lover Lucasta as well as an appeal to honor and patriotism to justify to all the soldiers their lovers' departure , but the poem's inconsistencies prevent success. Throughout the poem, Lovelace's mind, understanding the need to go into battle, remains at war with his middle of paper... his love for his precious Lucasta, however, inconsistencies and hesitations permeate his writing, and reveal his unintentional mockery of military values ​​and his indissoluble bond with Lucasta. As he must venture into battle, he becomes a victim of love's enduring impregnability. Donne, in his “Song”, first attempts to comfort all men who have encountered the difficulties of romantic relationships. However, with his strong and dominant voice, he erases the prospects of lasting love. In contrast to Lovelace, Donne presents himself as a victim of the elusive nature of love. What both poems have in common is the uncomfortable effect they cause on their audiences, a result of their eventual resignation to their respective perceived realities. For Lovelace, this reality is a future of battle and separation from all that matters; for Donne, it's a life empty of lasting love.