Poetry...............need an explanation?

Question

Heres the poem.
Breathes there a man with soul so dead,
Who never to himself hath said,
' this is my own land, my native land.'
Whose heart hath never within him burned,
As home his footsteps he hath turned.
From wandering on a foreign strand,
If such thre breath go, mark him well.
For him no minstrel raptures swell;
High though his titles, proud his name,
Boundless his wealth as wish can claim;
Despite those titles, power and pelf,
The wretch, concentrated all in itself,
Living, shall forfeit reknown,
And doubly dying, shall go down
To the vile dust from whence he sprung,
Unwept, unhonoured, and unsung.


These lines are from The LAY OF THE LAST MINSTREL.
The poet is SIR WALTER SCOTT.

Answer 1

This poem is saying that for a man to be a man, he must love his homeland or country. The poet does this by saying there is a man whose soul is dead because he never felt love for his homeland ('this is my own land, my native land.') That if he had loved his country, it wouldn't matter where in the world he went (wandering on forein strand) he would always have a home.

This man of the poem had no love for his country, but rather only for himself. He never loved, fought for, defended his own country and for that he will be abandoned by the country he abandoned first. No one in his home country will honor him or cry for him (no matter how rich he is or how much land he owns or anything like that) because he chose not to honor them. So the author is telling us we must love and honor our homeland so that we will be honored for having loved/fought for/and defended our own country.

Answer 2

First of all, I hope you looked up all the words. your teacher will no doubt ask you what pelf means.
The poem is an argument for how one should be proud of one's country or homeland, no matter how far away he or she may roam. Hence it is an argument for loving beyond what is good for oneself. It also suggests an inauspicious end for those who do not love their country because they love only themselves. It suggests that even if one were to rise to serendipitous heights of personal wealth, the person without love of homeland dies twice: he "shall go down to the vile dust from whence he sprung, unwept, unhonoured, and unsung."
That's not the whole of it, but you can manage the rest, I hope. Look up all the words first before you read the poem: this will help a great deal. Don't be tricked by the English spelling which adds a "u" as in "honoured."

Answer 3

Keepin it simple:

He is homeless and this will make him a sad and worthless being when he dies (when the last minstrel plays).