I WOULD not even ask my heart to say If I could love another land as well As thee, my country, had I felt the spell Of Italy at birth, or learned to obey The charm of France, or England's mighty sway. I would not be so much an infidel As once to dream, or fashion words to tell, What land could hold my heart from thee away. For like a law of nature in my blood I feel thy sweet and secret sovereignty, And woven through my soul thy vital sign. My life is but a wave and thou the flood; I am a leaf and thou the mother-tree; Nor should I be at all, were I not thine. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...LEAVES OF A MAGAZINE by MARIANNE MOORE DAWN BEHIND NIGHT by ISAAC ROSENBERG TO HIS WIFE ON THE 16TH ANNIVERSARY OF HER WEDDING DAY, WITH A RING by SAMUEL BISHOP HIS PRAYER FOR ABSOLUTION by ROBERT HERRICK ASHWEDNESDAY by JOSEPH BEAUMONT THE MOST BEAUTIFUL THING by LOUISA SARAH BEVINGTON TAKE IT FROM FATHER by BERTON BRALEY A THOUGHT FOR A LONELY DEATH-BED by ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING |