Wordsworth, Thought of a Briton on the Subjugation of Switzerland (a sonnet)

Recorded in January 2022. "Probably written between 30 Oct. 1806 and Jan. 1807." (Jones 1987:165).

The French (under Menard) first invaded Switzerland in 1798. Napoleon then invaded the country a second time in 1802. Of this latter incident, Wordsworth writes: "After Buonaparte had violated the Independence of Switzerland, my heart turned against him." (Letter to Losh, 1821.)

Coleridge considers this poem to be "one of the noblest sonnets in our language" (The Friend, 21 Dec. 1809), and Wordsworth calls it one of the best he had ever written. (Letter to Richard Sharp, 27 September 1808).