Lorep
di Lorep
Ominide
2 min. di lettura
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Concetti Chiave

  • The poem "England in 1819" is an English sonnet comprised of 14 lines, divided into three quatrains and a rhyming couplet.
  • The poem uses a regular rhyme scheme of ABAB-CDCD-EFEF-HH, with consistent punctuation and capitalization.
  • The poem criticizes the English monarchy, describing the king and princes with negative adjectives to highlight their incompetence and unpopularity.
  • It lists several societal and institutional failures, portraying them as 'graves' that have been drained by the monarchy.
  • The final couplet suggests a potential future revolution, offering a glimpse of hope amidst the criticism.

Indice

  1. England in 1819
  2. Analysis
  3. The poem

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 th’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 Christeless, 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.
This poem is made up of 14 lines which are split into four stanzas.

Analysis

This poem is a English sonnet because it has three quatrains and a rhyming couplet. Lines have a regular length; begin with capital letters and are aligned. There is a regular punctuation and a regular rhyme scheme: ABAB- CDCD-EFEF-HH. There are some run-on-lines and some similes.
The title refers to the massacre of Peterloo. In the first line the poet describes the kings through a series of negative adjectives. The princes are as their father. After the poet makes the list of all the institutions things that ARE GRAVES, because the kings have drained all.

The poem

The poem can be divided into three parts:

1-The first line, where the poet introduces the king.

2- From the second line to the twelfth, where the poet

makes a list of all the negative things England is afflicted with.

3-The rhyming couplet, where there is the quality referred to the things (“Are graves”), and where there is an intimation of future revolution.

The poet represents negatively his time and his king, with many adjectives and names.

Domande da interrogazione

  1. Qual è la condizione del re descritta nel testo?
  2. Il re è descritto come vecchio, pazzo, cieco, disprezzato e morente, con principi che sono il residuo di una stirpe noiosa.

  3. Come viene rappresentato l'esercito nel testo?
  4. L'esercito è descritto come uno strumento di oppressione e distruzione, paragonato a una spada a doppio taglio per chi lo brandisce.

  5. Qual è il significato del titolo e come si collega al contenuto del testo?
  6. Il titolo si riferisce al massacro di Peterloo e il testo descrive negativamente il re e le istituzioni, suggerendo una futura rivoluzione.

Domande e risposte

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