england in 1819 - shelley

“An old, mad, blind, despised, and dying king”

Presents the king as weak, corrupt, and unfit to rule, showing the people are powerless under failing leadership.

“Princes, the dregs of their dull race”

The ruling class is described as worthless and corrupt, suggesting power is inherited and undeserved.

“Who flow through public scorn”

Enjambment shows corruption spreading unchecked, reinforcing the people’s inability to stop their rulers.

“Rulers who neither see, nor feel, nor know”

Emphasises the government’s total detachment from the suffering of ordinary people.

“But leech-like to their fainting country cling”

Simile compares rulers to parasites draining the nation, highlighting exploitation.

“A people starved and stabbed in the untill’d field”

Violent imagery shows citizens suffering hunger and violence, powerless victims of neglect.

“An army, whom liberticide and prey”

Suggests the army exists to destroy freedom rather than protect people.

“Makes as a two-edged sword to all who wield”

Implies power is dangerous and destructive, even to those who hold it.

“Golden and sanguine laws which tempt and slay”

Oxymoron shows laws appear fair but are actually violent and harmful.

“Religion Christless, Godless”

Repetition shows moral decay in institutions meant to guide society.

“A Senate—Time’s worst statute, unrepealed”

The government is outdated and unchanged, leaving people without a voice.

“Are graves from which a glorious Phantom may”

Metaphor suggests hope may rise from suffering through rebellion or change.

“Burst, to illumine our tempestuous day”

Light imagery symbolises potential revolution and a future end to oppression.