Percy Bysshe Shelley's "England in 1819"
Great poetry is great not because of what it says but because of how it is phrased. Few poems say anything that is very profound; instead, the best of them use language in novel, memorable, and effective ways. Certainly this is true of Percy Bysshe Shelley's famous sonnet "England in 1819." In this poem Shelley describes the depressing, dark, and dirty state of affairs caused in Britain by political, social, and spiritual corruption. However, this poem would not be nearly as effective if it were not for Shelley's powerful use of such classic rhetorical devices as adjectives, alliteration, assonance, imagery, irony, lists, pairings, themes, and verbs. One device@ that Shelley employs# very potently* is the use of adjectives. The sonnet is full of vivid descriptive words. Such words include "old," "mad," "blind," "despised," "dying" (l. 1), "dull" (l. 2), "muddy" (l. 3), "leech-like" (l. 5), "Golden," "sanguine" (l. 10), "Christless," "Godless" (l. 11), "glorious" (l. 13) and "tempestuous" (l. 14). All these adjectives are obviously strong, memorable, and effective. A second technique@ that Shelley utilizes# quite skillfully* is alliteration. The poem is filled with the repetition of consonant sounds. For
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Some common words found in the essay are:
Christless Godless, Bysshe Shelley's, Finally Shelley, , england 1819, nor feel nor, mud muddy, king 1, feel nor, muddy 3, nor feel, neither nor feel, despis'd dying, mud muddy 3, blind despis'd, blind despis'd dying, blind blood, dying 1, dying king 1,
Approximate Word count = 1047
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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