Supposing That I Should Have the Courage
Supposing That I Should Have the Courage - meaning Summary
Rejecting Imposed Virtue
The speaker imagines being pierced by a symbolic "red sword of virtue" that would cleanse sin by sacrifice. Offered moral reward or consolation—a gardened castle, kingdom, or hope—these promises feel inadequate or insincere. The poem rejects external, performative virtue and its compensations, insisting that such ostentatious purification and the hopes it brings are unwelcome. Tone is defiant and skeptical about moral grandstanding and prescribed redemption.
Read Complete AnalysesSupposing that I should have the courage To let a red sword of virtue Plunge into my heart, Letting to the weeds of the ground My sinful blood, What can you offer me? A gardened castle? A flowery kingdom? What? A hope? Then hence with your red sword of virtue.
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