Nationalist Identity

“Dedication to Ireland” is a proud love letter to the speaker’s home country, and a call to action to those listening to help the country be the best it can be. During this period, Ireland was suffering from a range of interconnected social and political hardships, particularly those influenced by the oppression of the more powerful British Empire. Speranza, also known as the literary influencer Lady Jane Wilde, was a vocal supporter of Ireland reclaiming its power from Britain. In whole, this poem champions the reclamation of that power and the ascension of a proud nationalist identity.

The first stanza alludes to the country’s depreciated state: “wounded to the heart” in “Death’s icy drift” (Lines 1, 6). In contrast to this, the speaker offers her “burning words” (Line 5) in hopes that they might shine new light on “the full splendours of our age” (Line...