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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


A NATION'S POWER NOT IN ARMIES by WILLIAM WORDSWORTH

Poet Analysis

First Line: THE POWER OF ARMIES IS A VISIBLE THING
Last Line: IN EVERY NOOK A LIP THAT IT MAY CHEER.
Subject(s): SOLDIERS;

The power of Armies is a visible thing,
Formal, and circumscribed in time and space;
But who the limits of that power shall trace
Which a brave People into light can bring
Or hide, at will, -- for freedom combating
By just revenge inflamed? No foot may chase,
No eye can follow, to a fatal place
That power, that spirit, whether on the wing
Like the strong wind, or sleeping like the wind
Within its awful caves. -- From year to year
Springs this indigenous produce far and near;
No craft this subtle element can bind,
Rising like water from the soil, to find
In every nook a lip that it may cheer.



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