Explication: Shelley's 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,          5
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;          10
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 tempestous day.

Large Issues

     The speaker of the poem is clearly dramatizing the current state of England in 1819, hence the title. The theme of the poem is obviously very dark and pessimistic. It questions the present established power's ability to rule. The identity of the speaker here is not quite clear; as in the case of "To Wordsworth", the speaker could be Shelley himself, but I am more inclined to believe that the speaker's identity is purposely made ambiguous due to the fact that many people in England felt this way at the time it was written. The audience of the poem is, arguably, just as ambiguous. The speaker could be addressing citizens of other nations who may not have a full understanding of the dire situation that England is in. Another possibility is that the speaker is merely documenting this for future generations in order for them to understand how their ancestors must have felt at this time. The third possibility I see is that the speaker is simply lamenting his or her emotions. As far as plot goes, the poem does not necessarily move anywhere, it is really just a description of how the speaker views England. The speaker's motivation to speak at this moment is clearly based in feelings of despair and disbelief regarding the state of his or her country.

Details

     Form- in terms of meter, the poem is considered a sonnet. However, the rhyme scheme varies greatly from traditional sonnets as it is structured as ABABABCDCDCCDD. It should also be noted that all of the subjects of the first six lines are that of nobility. It is only after these lines that the speaker mentions everyone else. It is in this way that the structure of the poem is out of order, underlining the speaker's sentiments regarding England at the time.

     Rhetoric- the speaker's statements are mainly descriptive in nature, as the poem is really just one large description. Nothing about the rhetoric really seems odd in any way.

     Syntax– the first twelve lines of the poems contain subjects, verbs, and objects that are all primarily negative or have negative actions. 

     Vocabulary- as in the case with the poem's syntax, most of the vocabulary is very negative, dark, or pessimistic in nature.

Patterns

     Rhetorical Patterns- many of the lines begin with a subject, then go on to describe that subject in the rest of the line and the line after, such as lines 7–9: "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,--".

     Figurative Language- the poem is full of dark similes and metaphors, such as comparing nobles to rulers to leeches and princes to "mud from a muddy spring". It is mainly through this that the speaker's overall cynicism is achieved. 

Explication: Shelley's "To Wordsworth"

Poet of Nature, thou hast wept to know
That things depart which never may return:
Childhood and youth, friendship, and love's first glow,
Have fled like sweet dreams, leaving thee to mourn.
These common woes I feel. One loss is mine          5
Which thou too feel'st, yet I alone deplore.
Thou wert as a lone star whose light did shine
On some frail bark in winter's midnight roar:
Thou hast like to a rock-built refuge stood
Above the blind and battling multitude:          10
In honoured poverty thy voice did weave
Songs consecrate to truth and liberty.
Deserting these, thou leavest me to grieve,
Thus having been, that thou shouldst cease to be.

Large Issues

     The main theme this poem seems to be addressing is change. The speaker claims that the things that he/she and Wordsworth both enjoyed in the past are now gone, but the speaker is addressing a change in Wordsworth as well. The speaker is saying to Wordsworth that he once "wert as a lone star whose light did shine", whose "voice did weave/Songs consecrate to truth and liberty", but he no longer represents any of this, much to the dismay of the speaker. As for the speaker's identity, it could likely be Shelley, however I acknowledge the fact that the speaker could possibly be a reader of Wordsworth's poems, due to the fact that the "woes" he feels are "common". In either case, the speaker is someone who is disappointed to see that Wordsworth's work has lost the spark that it had originally. The audience here is likely Wordsworth, since it is addressed and specifically focused toward him.

Details

     Form– for the most part, the piece follows the structure of a traditional sonnet, with an ABAB rhyme scheme. However it breaks this scheme at lines 9-10, the only couplet in the poem.

     Rhetoric– lines 1-6 seem to have very polite, sympathetic language. Starting with line 7, the rhetoric changes so that the speaker is now directly addressing Wordsworth, and it is very strong up until line 12. Lines 13 and 14 seem to reflect the more somber tone of the first six lines.

     Syntax- again, the syntax seems to imply that the speaker is either Shelley or a common person. None of it seems to be convoluted or vague.

     Vocabulary- the phrase "rock-built refuge" in line 9  illustrates just how strong the speaker once perceived Wordsworth, as well as adding to the powerful and serious tone of that section. In line 12, it is interesting that Shelley chose to use the word "consecrate", because the word has both literal and religious connotations.

Patterns

     Rhetorical Patterns- as I mentioned above, lines 13 and 14 seem to follow the same pattern as the first six lines. Lines 7 and 9 are the most direct in the entire poem, as they both are direct statements beginning with "Thou".

     Rhyme- the only place where rhyme seems to have any inherent significance seems to be in lines 9-10, but this is likely because the poem shifts its tone at this point.