True, the speaker in the poem, a farmer, is concerned with loyalty: He is struggling to decide how much loyalty he owes a none-too-reliable former employee who has returned in his absence and whom his wife says is dying
The phrase that indicated a lost in thought feel is the "Midnight shakes the memory". It means that his train of thought is going double time in the dark or at night.
Answer:
I believe it is a metaphor for the fact that the backpack is heavy.
Explanation:
