When I Have Borne in Memory
WHEN I have borne in memory what has tamedGreat nations; how ennobling thoughts depart,What men change swords for ledgers, and desertThe student’s bower for gold,—some fears unnamedI had, my country!—am I to be blamed?Now, when I think of thee, and what thou art,Verily, in the bottom of my heartOf those unfilial fears I am ashamed.For dearly must we prize thee; we do findIn 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!