Andrew Stone
Shelley is widely known as a liberal romantic
poet
“England In 1819” expresses many of his
liberal views and his discontent toward the
English government in 1819
The poem was written in 1819, 3 years before
his death
Shelley attacks King George III and
Parliament
Lines 1-6
King
George
III
An old, mad, blind, despised, and dying king,-Princes, the dregs of their dull race, who flow
Through public scorn,--mud from a muddy spring,-Rulers who neither see, nor feel, nor know,
But leech-like to their fainting country cling,
Till they drop, blind in blood, without a blow,-The leeches sucking blood
represent the government’s
oppression of the people
Selfish rulers that
are blind to the
condition of the
people
Lines 7-10
“Liberticide”
“Liberte`” - French for “liberty”
“Cide” – Suffix for “killer”
Pesticide – Pest
Liberticide – Liberty
A people starved and stabbed in the untilled field,-An army, which liberticide and prey
Makes as a two-edged sword to all who wield,-Golden and sanguine laws which tempt and slay;
“Two-edged sword to all
who wield” – There can
never be a winner in the
battle between the
starving people and the
government, symbolized
by the army
Golden – Represents the temptation
of wealth
Sanguine – A brownish red color that
symbolizes blood and represents and
the slain liberty of the people
The
Bible
Lines 11-14
Angry
toward
Why
is
Religion Christless, Godless--a book sealed;
Senate
“Phantom”worst statute unrepealed,-and
A Senate,--Time's
religion
Are graves,
from
which
a
glorious
Phantom
may
capitalized?
Burst, to illumine our tempestous day.
Hope that good
(the “glorious
Phantom”) may
come in the
future
VOLTA
Lines 1-10 focus on the
government and what is
happening at the time.
Lines 11-14 focus on
Shelley’s reflection and
personal opinion of the
state of the
government and a look
into the future.
Rhyme scheme
ABABABCDCDCCDD
Upside-down form of the classic Petrarchan
sonnet form
Iambic Pentameter
Untraditional sonnet form represents the
disorder of England at the time
Theme
Focuses on the disorder of the English
government and the corruption of the monarchy
Speaks for the people living in poverty
Expresses Shelly’s hope for change in the future
http://www.sparknotes.com/poetry/shelley/section3.rhtml
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/England_in_1819
http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/england-in-1819/
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