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British Freedom
By William Wordsworth
It is not to be thought of that the Flood
Of British freedom, which, to the open sea
Of the world's praise, from dark antiquity
Hath flowed, "with pomp of waters, unwithstood,"
Roused though it be full often to a mood
Which spurns the check of salutary bands,
That this most famous Stream in bogs and sands
Should perish; and to evil and to good
Be lost for ever. In our halls is hung
Armoury of the invincible Knights of old:
We must be free or die, who speak the tongue
That Shakespeare spake; the faith and morals hold
Which Milton held. In every thing we are sprung
Of Earth's first blood, have titles manifold.
Extra Info:
Line 4
"with pomp of waters, unwithstood": see Daniel, The Civile Wars, II, vii, 5.
Lines 5 & 6
These lines were first substituted in 1827 for the original version which read:
Roads by which all might come and go that would,
And bear out freights of worth to foreign lands.
It has been plausibly suggested that Wordsworth refers to the disturbances which led to the agitation for Catholic Emancipation and the Reform Bill, to both of which he was opposed.
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