ABSTRACT
Composed on or shortly before 14 February 1812, included in the same letter of that date as Nos. 73 and 74 (see headnotes), and associated in ideas and phrasing with both pieces. Although written, and always printed, continuously, the lines are clearly disjointed: the vocative pronoun addressing Erin in line I addresses the tree of Liberty in line 5, and in line 7 this tree (or another) is referred to in the third person. S.’s apology following the lines suggests an improvisation: ‘I find that I sometimes can write poetry when I feel. Such as it is-’ (L i 254).
