When I have borne in memory what has tamed
William Wordsworth, 1807

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 of 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!