Point of View

“Dedication to Ireland” is written in the first-person point of view. This is immediately apparent from the words “My” and “I” at the very beginning of the poem: “My country, wounded to the heart, / Could I but flash along thy soul” (Lines 1-2). Even though the speaker is a minuscule onlooker in the vastness of their country’s history, the poem conveys their internal sense of powerlessness in the face of their country’s fall. The first, second, and fourth stanzas directly reference the first-person speaker, while the third stanza uses the collective pronoun “we” (Line 31). The speaker’s internality exists as a subtle backdrop to the wider world concerns of the poem.

Language and Meaning

Written in the late 1800s, this poem uses extensive metaphorical and religious imagery to convey the speaker’s devotion to her country. Some words, such as “rive” and “thy...