Volume 2 — "When I have borne in memory what has tamed"

Composed September, 1802.—Published 1807^A

The Poem

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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 Main Contents 1 2 3 5 10

Variant 1:

1845

But,... 1803

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Variant 2:

1807

I of those fears of mine am much ashamed. 1803

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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.

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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.

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Contents 1802 Main Contents