"When I have borne in memory what has tamed"

Composed September, 1802.—Published 1807A

The Poem

text variant footnote line number

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!

Contents 1802
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5

10

Variant 1:

1845

But,...

1803

Variant 2:

1807

I of those fears of mine am much ashamed.

1803

Variant 3:

1845

But dearly do I prize thee for I find
In thee a bulwark of the cause of men;

1803

But dearly must we prize thee; we who find

1807

... for the cause of men;

1827

Most dearly

1838

The text of 1840 returns to that of 1827.

Footnote A:

But printed previously in The Morning Post, September 17, 1803, under the title England, and signed W. L. D. Also, see Coleridge's Poems on Political Events, 1828-9.—Ed.

return to footnote mark

Contents 1802
Main Contents