'Stone Walls Do Not A Prison Make' by Richard Lovelace.
In very brief summary, these lines from the poem by Richard Lovelace mean that it takes more than physical limits to imprison a person's mind or soul. Stone walls and iron bars may prevent a person from moving freely in their body, but if they can still love freely whoever they want, and have free emotions and let their thoughts fly free, then in heart, mind and soul - they are free. the poet seems to believe that these latter freedoms are more important. The poem is about freedom and has similarities with Gerard Manley Hopkins poem about The Skylark.
1618-1657 Richard Lovelace was born in London, at Woolwich and came from a military background. His family were from kent which is in the very south of England.
If you would like to do some extension reading to broaden your knowledge of the subject of freedom/spirituality in poetry, Hopkins is an interesting comparison:
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