WHEN 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! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...OUT OF THE OLD HOUSE, NANCY by WILLIAM MCKENDREE CARLETON I SAW A STABLE by MARY ELIZABETH COLERIDGE SONNET by ALICE RUTH MOORE DUNBAR-NELSON MY FAMILIAR by JOHN GODFREY SAXE PSALM 52 by OLD TESTAMENT BIBLE THE PERMANENT BRAND by BERTON BRALEY ON THE DEATH OF ANNE BRONTE by CHARLOTTE BRONTE THE SHEPHERD'S PIPE: FOURTH ECLOGUE by WILLIAM BROWNE (1591-1643) |