Page:Sibylline Leaves (Coleridge).djvu/70


 * 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?

But, when I think of Thee, and what Thou art, Verily, in the bottom of my heart,
 * Of those unfilial fears I am ashamed.

But 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.

Author:William Wordsworth.