WHEN I have borne in memory what has tamed <br />Great Nations, how ennobling thoughts depart <br />When men change swords for ledgers, and desert <br />The student's bower for gold, some fears unnamed <br />I had, my Country!--am I to be blamed? <br />Now, when I think of thee, and what thou art, <br />Verily, in the bottom of my heart, <br />Of those unfilial fears I am ashamed. <br />For dearly must we prize thee; we who find <br />In thee a bulwark for the cause of men: <br />And I by my affection was beguiled: <br />What wonder if a Poet now and then, <br />Among the many movements of his mind, <br />Felt for thee as a lover or a child!<br /><br />William Wordsworth<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/when-i-have-borne-in-memory/
