Another common topic for the Romantic poets was the French Revolution. Percy Shelley wrote this sonnet in protest of King George after the Peterloo Massacre in Manchester, 1819 (didn't I say Manchester had so much to answer for?!)
ENGLAND IN 1819
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,--
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;
Religion Christless, Godless, a book sealed,--
A Senate--Time's worst statute unrepealed,--
Are graves from which a glorious Phantom may
Burst to illumine our tempestuous day.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/England_in_1819
26 comments:
Shelley wrote a good sonnet.He could protest the King very good. I love this sonnet.Also I loved this poet because he was at the side of his people.and the French revolution. it was a good begining for almost all world.
HATİCE ERDOĞAN
Shelley is strictly critizing the king ,princes,rulers;one the other hand ,he is sorry for the poor,hungry public.At the end of the sonnet he tells us that French Revalution will brighten these bad days.Really impressive!
Yeşim ATASOY
Thank God because I did not live on that days.I could not dare to be ruled by a king.Kings were in welfare whereas the others were in extreme poverty.Someone had to criticize them and Shelley did the job perfectly!!!
Şeyda Çeşmeci
Shelly tells the revolutıon very good. in that timt livng was really hard I think. and france experienced this event very hard also.
The Shelly’s England in 1819 describes he king like an old, mad, blind, despised, and dying. Shelley was also concerned with the real world: he was a fierce denouncer of political power and a passionate advocate for liberty.unable to see, feel for, or know their people. England in 1819 is a sonnet, a fourteen-line poem metered in iambic pentameter. Like many of Shelley's sonnets, it does not fit the rhyming patterns one might expect from a nineteenth-century sonnet; instead, the traditional Petrarchan division between the first eight lines and the final six lines is disregarded, so that certain rhymes appear in both sections:
An old,mad,blind,despised,and dying king,-- A
Princes,the dregs of their dull race,who flow-- B
Through public scorn,mud from a muddy spring,A
Rulers who neither see,nor feel,nor know,---------B
But leech-like to their fainting country cling,-----A
Till they drop, lind in blood,without a blow,-------B
A people starved and stabbed in the untilled field,C
An army which liberticide and prey-----------------D
Makes as a two-edged sword to all who wield,----C
Golden and sanguine laws which tempt and slay;D
Religion Christless,Godless,a book sealed,-------C
A Senate-Time's worst statute unrepealed,--------C
Are graves from which a glorious Phantom may-D
Burst to illumine our tempestuous day.------------D
The sonnet is so meaningful;it tells about the days of that time,the people,the king,revolution..It's a realistic sonnet!
every person knows something about the French Revolution.many stories and poems were written about it in past. shelley`s sonnet is very good example of the protesting the king.he understood his people and showed them that he was at the side if the them writing that sonnet. he criticized the king and his supporters in a effective way. i like it and i like people who dare to do something which some people could not do!
ıt is a sonnet, a fourteen-line poem metered in iambic pentameter.Shelley was concerned with politica: he was a fierce denouncer of political power and a passionate advocate for liberty. The result of his political commitment was a series of angry political poems. this poem is an example of Shelley' political poem.
Most of us probably think Shelley as a romantic poet who was concerned with love and beauty, he was a romantic of course, but he was also a fighter of freedom, a critic of politics. The sonnet deals with England's rulers, the king and the princess, mostly criticizing them. Shelley describes the depressing and dark states that are caused in Britain by political and social factors. He is so bold to criticize the front bencher of England of 1819..
This sonnet is a good example of describing tne difficulties of living at those times.Shelley criticizes the king, and is worry about the people in difficulty and poverty.
Yasemin YILMAZ
Shelley criticises the ruling system. He says people starved etc., and says French Revolution will terminate the bad days. I think, Shelley showed great courage when he opposed the king.
All the systems that overpowers the society needs breaking down.Shelley was an idealist in the sense that she was a proponent of freedom.Western civiliziation fought against the power.Rights were gained through blood and powder.French Revoluation deserved lot of songs.We all grateful the Kemalist revoluation that gives our rights.I feel my being for following the way of Mustafa Kemal.
The poem is really impressive, it tells us events that were cruel and were owing to the King. All of these were lived before the French revolution that was salvation for society. Shelley critizes the king, the rulers in his poem, ıt is a nice work!!!
I think it is a very good sonnet.The topic is French revolution ,and Shelley is critizing the rulers,king.When I look at the picture I saw people fighting for thier rights...I think the most effective side of this sonnet is that Shelley showed the people seeking their rights.
Revoluation brins its songs.Shelley help her feeling expose from her heart.No matter what you do,you can not prevent the novelties.Adapy yoursef to innovation.
like the poem London, we see people suffering in England, but here we can notice that people are crying because of a king and Shelley protest this king.people everywhere in the world suffer because of rulers.
Shelly wrote this sonnet in order to criticize the ruler or king in the France revolution. because people suffer from the rulers.
the entire poem seems to be in a relation of extension to the title of the poem: it is written as one continuous sentence, a garden path, with a great reversal of meaning in the last two lines.
Shelley had such a fine authetic sense that he couldn't bare the corruption of the powerful. It's very difficult to write about politics/politicians because the language bursts at the seams to express the ugliness and hatred that corrupt systems breed.
Shelley was also concerned with the real world: he was a fierce denouncer of political power and a passionate advocate for liberty.
This is political poem that criticize everything in public .Shelly was also concerned with real world ,he passionately advocate for liberty world.Life was very difficult that time and Shelley wanted to change something in people lifes..It is good
ın this poem Shelley writes for her people who suffering the unjustice because of the king and his men. The people is very poor and are sick of the rulers who oppress themselves. And Shelly criticizes the seniors by writing this poem in order to stop this unfairness.
Shelly's sonnet was one of the greatest sonnets I have ever read. I adored him because he had the courage to criticize the king, rules, rulers and the princess at that time. Nobody dared to do such a thing until Shelley. I adored his descriptions as well. For example he describes the king as blind, ugly, mad and old. He critizes the ruling system. Also he thinks about the poor public. He explains that he is always in the side of the public and he supports the French Revolution. He tells the public that these bad days will come to an end with the French Revolution. What a sensitive person...
French Revoluation has been duplicated all around the world by nations.Shelley was conscious about the events surrounding the worlf of her.Her narrative style was exceptioanl in that working on serious topics entail hardworking and experience.Shelley combined lots of thins in a common work and presents us with clear way.
Shelly illustrates cruelty of the ruler, and poverty of the society in England in 1819 with his sonnet. He says French Revolution was the event that put an end to this unbearable situation…He tries to make the voice of his society heard..He displays a deep sensitivity to the need of the society, which impresses me most.
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