Andrew Stone
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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
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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
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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
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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.
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Rhyme scheme
 ABABABCDCDCCDD
 Upside-down form of the classic Petrarchan
sonnet form
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Iambic Pentameter
Untraditional sonnet form represents the
disorder of England at the time
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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/