Good morning/afternoon esteemed members of the Tablelands Poetry Society.
Unjust governments have governed throughout the world for centuries, and their actions have harmed their people and society. Even now, in the 21st century there are governments that do not care for their citizens. There have also always been people to challenge these governments and systems with radical ideas.
The state of British politics during the late 18th and 19th centuries led to radical sects of the educated intellectual class challenging traditional ideas and systems. The medium of poetry was an extremely popular one during this time as it allowed for the exchange of these ideas. One this era’s most profound Romantic poets, Percy Shelley, wrote many poems about
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The poem is about the character ‘Anarchy’ and his ‘mighty troops’ that trampled over England, killing and maiming the people. This representation is specifically shown by verse 10, which says ‘over English land he [Anarchy] passed, trampling to a mire of blood the adoring multitude’. Along with this the poem speaks of politicians that wept tears which turned to stone and crushed the people – a clear metaphor for the politicians killing their people whilst professing to care for their lives and safety. The poem exaggerates the events in an effort to demonise the government, incite the public’s anger and condemnation, and to spread and support Shelley’s …show more content…
Examples of symbolism are “kingly crown” and “sceptre shone”. There are intertextual references such as “ermined gown” and “seven blood hounds”, which refer to the clothing worn by politicians and the devil’s hell hounds respectively. A specific example of hyperbole occurs the last line, where the cost to the nation is ‘ten million’, an exaggeration of the lives lost during the protest. This is used to position the audience to believe that the protest and resulting massacre by the government was far worse than the reality to give power to Shelley’s ideologies. The poetic devices in this poem successfully conveys Shelley’s opinion of his what he perceives as a wicked government to his
The modern world is full of social issues and people use all different kinds of way to express the way that they feel and how they see things. Bruce Dawe uses his poem ‘War Without End’ and Christopher Mann with his poem ‘Country Matters’ to convey important messages.
...veryone else. He wakes up every day ready to crow his symbol to bring on that day. In the poem he is ready to protect all the female chickens, from another cock that could be in there house. He is ready to battle to the death for what he thinks is his. In this poem he uses ridicule, when he is talking about the old man in a terminal ward, and he also uses connotations. Some example of connotations are when he uses words like; enraged, sullenly, savagery, unappeased and terminal.
“Victorian poets illustrated the changeable nature of attitudes and values within their world and explored the experiences of humanity through these shifts.”
Shelley, Percy. “Written Among The Euganean Hills, North Italy,” English Poetry II: From Collins to Fitzgerald. The Harvard Classics. 1909–14.
Harris, Laurie Lanzen. “George Gordon (Noel) Byron, Lord Byron.” Nineteenth- Century Literature Criticism. Vol. 2. Detroit: Gale Research Company, 1982. Print.
Feldman, Paula R., ed. British Women Poets of the Romantic Era. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins, 1997.
Poetry’s role is evaluated according to what extent it mirrors, shapes and is reshaped by historical events. In the mid-19th century, some critics viewed poetry as “an expression of the poet’s personality, a manifestation of the poet’s intuition and of the social and historical context which shaped him” ( Preminger, Warnke, Hardison 511). Analysis of the historical, social, political and cultural events at a certain time helps the reader fully grasp a given work. The historical approach is necessary in order for given allusions to be situated in their social, political and cultural background. In order to escape intentional fallacy, a poet should relate his work to universal
Social injustices plague the world, still to this day. There are few who speak about these unjust cruelties that others face. Those who do, enlighten those who ignore and refuse to acknowledge. In Citizen: An American Lyric, Claudia Rankine discusses social injustices through her analysis of micro-aggressions.
The poem metaphorically suggests the theme of the tendency toward violence and oppression in revolutionaries after being so wrongfully treated by the aristocracy. Dickens supports this theme by finding immense fault in the social structure of society, the judicial system during that time period, and the lunacy of the revolution.
King George is “old, mad, blind, despised, and dying”; the princes have become cold and selfish draining their country dry, fighting for the throne; the people are starving, depressed, and their crops are failing; the army and church are consumed with greed and takes from its own people; the laws remain unenforced, and Parliament is “Time’s worst statute unrepealed”(“1819” 12) These are all symptoms of a failing government, which I interpret leads Shelley to his last lines, and prediction, of his poem, “Are graves, from which a glorious Phantom may/ Burst, to illuminate our tempestous day”(“1819” 13-14). I think Shelley was convinced that the only hope in humanity is through violent revolution or “a Phantom of light from graves”. I believe this poem warns humanity of handing its power to the one percent, especially when that party reaps the most benefits of its advanced nation. Again implying democracy is the only system of government that can possibly work for the whole when given the power of
Daffodils?. Percy Bysshe Shelley, John Keats, George Gordon Byron and Samuel Taylor Coleridge were all poets in the Romantic era. They all had a love of their country and wrote about nature and revolution in some of their poems. Shelley wrote many plays, some of which were Romantic and some about the French Revolution (as Shelley had experienced the French Revolution in his lifetime). This allowed him to state deep,
Lord Byron had a variety of achievements during his time. Among these various achievements, he had a very significant and profound impact on the nineteenth century and it’s “conception of archetypal Romantic Sensibility. (Snyder 40). “What fascinates nineteenth century audiences about Byron was not simply the larger than life character of the man transmuted into...
Reaching for justice throughout human history has been one of the primordial dreams chased by most humans while at the same time, hunted as a mere fugitive by others in order to satisfy their appalling thirst for injustice. “Injustice anywhere is at threat to justice everywhere” as stated by Martin lather King, if one doesn’t fight for justice he/she might end up having to face the sad reality of injustice taking over everywhere. In order to not let such a thing take place we need to fight against injustice as one. Two literature works which embrace this idea are Common Sense by Thomas Pain and Letter to Any Would-be Terrorists by Naomi Shihab Nye. These two literature works as example of protest literature were very important in illustrating how crucial it was to fight against injustice because both works were effective in encouraging and helping the authors and their audiences share their ideas about a preoccupying topic while hoping at the same time to someday bring about an important social or political change.
Marshall, William H., ed. The Major English Romantic Poets. New York: Washington Square, Inc., 1966. Print.
Byron's poetry: A Critical Introduction. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin. 2002. The 'Secondary' of the 'Secondary' of the 'S Buxton, John. A. Byron and Shelley: The History of Friendship. New York, NY: Harcourt, Inc. Brace & World, Inc.. 1968.