When I Have Borne in Memory
When I Have Borne in Memory - meaning Summary
Patriotism and Poetic Identity
The poem records a poet’s anxious reflection on national change and his own feelings toward his country. He admits fears that civic virtue may be weakened when war and study give way to commerce, then confesses shame at those unfilial doubts. Ultimately he reasserts deep affection, acknowledging that a poet’s emotional responses can resemble those of a lover or child while still valuing the nation as a moral bulwark.
Read Complete AnalysesWhen I have borne in memory what has tamed Great Nations, how ennobling thoughts depart When men change swords for ledgers, and desert The student's bower for gold, some fears unnamed I had, my Country!--am I to be blamed? Now, when I think of thee, and what thou art, Verily, in the bottom of my heart, Of those unfilial fears I am ashamed. For dearly must we prize thee; we who find In thee a bulwark for the cause of men: And I by my affection was beguiled: What wonder if a Poet now and then, Among the many movements of his mind, Felt for thee as a lover or a child!
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