The motive for confession is penitential or therapeutic—by speaking openly about personal guilt and suffering, the poet hopes to make them easier to bear.
忏悔的动机是赎罪或治疗：诗人希望通过公开谈论个人的罪行和痛苦，让自己更容易接受它们。
2
Whether you will be led by this motive to actions which are useful, or to actions which are pernicious, depends upon the social system, and upon your capacities.
你将被这种动机引导成对社会有利的行为，还是有害的行为，取决于这个社会的制度，以及你个人的能力。
3
It is, indeed, by far the strongest motive in the lives of important men.