"When I Have Borne in Memory What Has Tamed"
When I have borne in memory what has tamedGreat Nations, how ennobling thoughts departWhen 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 heart,Of those unfilial fears I am ashamed.For dearly must we prize thee; we who 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!
Words in this poem
- depart v. i.
- To part; to divide; to separate. [OE. departen to divide, part, depart, F. départir to divide, distribute, se départir to separate one's self, depart; pref. dé- (L. de) + partir to part, depart,]
- unfilial a.
- Unsuitable to a son or a daughter; undutiful; not becoming a child.
- bulwark n.
- A rampart; a fortification; a bastion or outwork. [Akin to D. bolwerk, G. bollwerk, Sw. bolwerk, Dan. bolvärk, bulvärk, rampart; akin to G. bohle plank, and werk work, defense. See Bole stem, and Work, n., and c]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
"When I Have Borne in Memory What Has Tamed" is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poetical Works of William Wordsworth — Volume 2 (of 8), Project Gutenberg ebook #12145; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: William Wordsworth, "When I Have Borne in Memory What Has Tamed", in The Brothers, and Other Poems (1798–1807), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12145, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/wordsworth-vol2/when-i-have-borne-in-memory-what-has-tamed.html, id L17369.
Form and metre
"When I Have Borne in Memory What Has Tamed" is 14 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 87%). 95% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.9 syllables. 36% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic pentameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 AB-AABBACDEDCE tamedA · departB · desert · unnamedA · blamedA · artB · heartB · ashamedA · findC · menD · beguiledE · thenD · mindC · childE
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| When I have borne in memory what has tamed | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Great Nations, how ennobling thoughts depart | 10 | ·/˘·˘/˘·˘/ |
| When men change swords for ledgers, and desert | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| The student's bower for gold, some fears unnamed | 10 | ·/˘/····˘/ |
| I had, my Country!--am I to be blamed? | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Now, when I think of thee, and what thou art, | 10 | ·········· |
| Verily, in the bottom of my heart, | 10 | /˘˘··/˘··· |
| Of those unfilial fears I am ashamed. | 10 | ··˘/˘···˘/ |
| For dearly must we prize thee; we who find | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| In thee a bulwark for the cause of men; | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| And I by my affection was beguiled: | 10 | ····˘/˘·˘/ |
| What wonder if a Poet now and then, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Among the many movements of his mind, | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| Felt for thee as a lover or a child! | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
On this poem
Notes from the edition 3
William Knight's notes to The Poetical Works of William Wordsworth, Volume 2 (1896; Project Gutenberg #12145): Wordsworth's own Isabella Fenwick notes and Knight's headnotes on composition and publication, plus his lettered footnotes (restarting at A for every poem).
- Line 6 1845. But,... 1803.
- Line 8 1807. I of those fears of mine am much ashamed. 1803.
- Line 10 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.
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.