I always thought it was about leaving home perhaps to attend an broding school which seemed like a new 'colony' which is why at the end the lines "God in his wisdom made you understand
God in his wisdom took you by the hand" are repeated to mimic a chorus of children repeating at the command of a teacher.
I always thought it was about leaving home perhaps to attend an broding school which seemed like a new 'colony' which is why at the end the lines "God in his wisdom made you understand God in his wisdom took you by the hand" are repeated to mimic a chorus of children repeating at the command of a teacher.