Song To The Men Of England Flashcards
Poet
Percy bysshe Shelly
Summary
The theme of “men of England” is that the majority of the workforce in England is being exploited. The poem is a call to action to the ordinary worker to stop allowing himself to be exploited for his own profit instead of benefitting someone else. The poem focus on the conflict between the upper class and the working class.
It recognise the difficulty and backlash that revolution creates, but warns the working class that if they don’t throw off this class oppression , they are working to create their own grave
Deeper interpretation
You can do better than you think you can. However, everything is depending on you, would you do it or not
Structure
The poem is stanzaic form
Each stanza is one quatrain and most lines have strong beats . The rhyme scheme is AABB, this repeats in each stanza . The regularity of form resembles the regular rhythms of a working life in a factories, field and workshops and the length and breath of the land
The first stanza consists of two questions, both directed at the men of England. The poet asks, why(wherefore’) would they allow themselves to be exploited just so others can enjoy the benefits of their labour? This question is not answered in the poem making them rhetorical
“That these string less drones may spoil, the forced produce of your toil”
The “stringless drones” emphasise how the aristocracy have no real power as they are not elected to rule. “ forced” convey a sense of slavery as it tells us that the lower class are worked so hard just so upper class can enjoy their luxuries whilst the lower class won’t even get a glimpse of that. This simple structure and rhyme scheme is less intellectual and more accessible to uneducated people.
Shelly is trying to convey as possible future reality to the men of England. If only they realised that the lords have no power (stingless) other than what they allow them to have
“Why shake the chains ye wrought”
Chains is quite symbolic-he whole poem is a extortion to break the invisible chains which bind the men of England to their labour
The chains made (wrought) by the working men are metaphors for their ‘entrapment’ by the class system that keeps them at the bottom of the society
The shaking of chains in the protest or revolt is a strong image in this stanza- one Shelly accuses the men of England of being too cowardly to bring life
“Those ungrateful” drones who would drain your sweat, nay drink you blood”
This metaphor describe how the aristocratic are being describe as bees that are only need for breeding. They don’t work or help the rest of the bees. These bees benefit of the labour of the other bees. The same is happening with people in power and lower classes. The links to the theme of exploitation because they create a system where the lower class are forced into labour to survive and the labour they do is beneficial for the people in power to stay at the top
“Where, bees of England, forge, many a weapon a chain, and scourge “
This tricolon links to a previous metaphor where the bees all work for one queen, Shelly asking the question of why the lower class conforms to building these weapons that can be potentially used against them and willl never be handled by themselves . This links to the theme because it shows the dire situation the men of England are in and go representation for their work and no credit for it
