Thursday, March 5, 2015

Do we know anything about the Roman in "On Wenlock Edge"?

The Roman was of course from a conquering and occupying
force of people. We do not learn any specifics about what troubled the ancient Roman,
nor do we learn any specifics of the troubles of the modern speaker. (“Then ’twas the
Roman, now ’tis I,” line 16). What we are told is that ancient and modern people have
problems that are identical to those of past people. We learn that both the Roman and
the speaker are alike in their sharing (a) massively powerful impulses that cannot be
resisted, (b) thoughts that hurt, and (c) trouble. Such afflictions were, and are, the
human lot.

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