SONG TO THE MEN OF ENGLAND

SONG rhyming couplets, regular rhythm, repetition, alliteration =

HYMN, ANTHEM or PROTEST SONG, CALL TO ARMS

TO addressed to a specific group

THE MEN OF ENGLAND = the labourers who make ENGLAND, ( are masters not men?)

VIEWPOINTSystem is unjust and England is tainted by the

injustice

Workers are dehumanised as masters suck their lifeblood

Workers should rebel and work only for themselves

TONEMounting anger as poem progresses

Bitterness, Rage, Contempt, Frustration

I

Men of England, wherefore plough

For the lords who lay ye low?

Wherefore weave with toil and care

The rich robes your tyrants wear?

II

Wherefore feed, and clothe, and save,

From the cradle to the grave,

Those ungrateful drones who would

Drain your sweat – nay, drink your blood?

III

Wherefore, Bees of England, forge

Many a weapon, chain, and scourge,

That these stingless drones may spoil

The forced produce of your toil?

IV

Have ye leisure, comfort, calm,

Shelter, food, love’s gentle balm?

Or what is it ye buy so dear

With your pain and with your fear?

V

The seed ye sow, another reaps;

The wealth ye find, another keeps;

The robes ye weave, another wears;

The arms ye forge, another bears.

VI

Sow seed, – but let no tyrant reap;

Find wealth, – let no impostor heap;

Weave robes, – let not the idle wear;

Forge arms, – in your defence to bear.

VII

Shrink to your cellars, holes, and cells;

In halls ye deck another dwells.

Why shake the chains ye wrought? Ye see

The steel ye tempered glance on ye.

VIII

With plough and spade, and hoe and loom,

Trace your grave, and build your tomb,

And weave your winding-sheet, till fair

England be your sepulchre.

I

Men of England, wherefore plough

For the lords who lay ye low?

Wherefore weave with toil and care

The rich robes your tyrants wear?

II

Wherefore feed, and clothe, and save,

From the cradle to the grave,

Those ungrateful drones who would

Drain your sweat – nay, drink your blood?

III

Wherefore, Bees of England, forge

Many a weapon, chain, and scourge,

That these stingless drones may spoil

The forced produce of your toil?

IV

Have ye leisure, comfort, calm,

Shelter, food, love’s gentle balm?

Or what is it ye buy so dear

With your pain and with your fear?

V

The seed ye sow, another reaps;

The wealth ye find, another keeps;

The robes ye weave, another wears;

The arms ye forge, another bears.

VI

Sow seed, – but let no tyrant reap;

Find wealth, – let no impostor heap;

Weave robes, – let not the idle wear;

Forge arms, – in your defence to bear.

VII

Shrink to your cellars, holes, and cells;

In halls ye deck another dwells.

Why shake the chains ye wrought? Ye see

The steel ye tempered glance on ye.

VIII

With plough and spade, and hoe and loom,

Trace your grave, and build your tomb,

And weave your winding-sheet, till fair

England be your sepulchre.

STRUCTURE

STRUCTURE

Stanzas 1 – 4: QUESTIONSWhy work for tyrants who exploit you?

Stanza 5: STATEMENTS The work you do & things you make benefit

only others

Stanzas 6 – 8: IMPERATIVES (ORDERS)Work, but for yourselves. ……Fight back or shrivel & make your own graves.

I

Men of England, wherefore plough

For the lords who lay ye low?

Wherefore weave with toil and care

The rich robes your tyrants wear?

II

Wherefore feed, and clothe, and save,

From the cradle to the grave,

Those ungrateful drones who would

Drain your sweat – nay, drink your blood?

III

Wherefore, Bees of England, forge

Many a weapon, chain, and scourge,

That these stingless drones may spoil

The forced produce of your toil?

IV

Have ye leisure, comfort, calm,

Shelter, food, love’s gentle balm?

Or what is it ye buy so dear

With your pain and with your fear?

V

The seed ye sow, another reaps;

The wealth ye find, another keeps;

The robes ye weave, another wears;

The arms ye forge, another bears.

VI

Sow seed, – but let no tyrant reap;

Find wealth, – let no impostor heap;

Weave robes, – let not the idle wear;

Forge arms, – in your defence to bear.

VII

Shrink to your cellars, holes, and cells;

In halls ye deck another dwells.

Why shake the chains ye wrought? Ye see

The steel ye tempered glance on ye.

VIII

With plough and spade, and hoe and loom,

Trace your grave, and build your tomb,

And weave your winding-sheet, till fair

England be your sepulchre.

WORKERSDICTION & IMAGERY MASTERSversus

DICTION & IMAGERY

Workers – directly addressed

Men of England

Bees of England

Ye

DICTION & IMAGERY

Masterslords who lay ye lowtyrantsungrateful dronesstingless dronesanother (5)tyrantimposterthe idle

DICTION & IMAGERYsemantic fields

workprofit

relaxationviolence & warfare

death

I

Men of England, wherefore plough

For the lords who lay ye low?

Wherefore weave with toil and care

The rich robes your tyrants wear?

II

Wherefore feed, and clothe, and save,

From the cradle to the grave,

Those ungrateful drones who would

Drain your sweat – nay, drink your blood?

III

Wherefore, Bees of England, forge

Many a weapon, chain, and scourge,

That these stingless drones may spoil

The forced produce of your toil?

IV

Have ye leisure, comfort, calm,

Shelter, food, love’s gentle balm?

Or what is it ye buy so dear

With your pain and with your fear?

V

The seed ye sow, another reaps;

The wealth ye find, another keeps;

The robes ye weave, another wears;

The arms ye forge, another bears.

VI

Sow seed, – but let no tyrant reap;

Find wealth, – let no impostor heap;

Weave robes, – let not the idle wear;

Forge arms, – in your defence to bear.

VII

Shrink to your cellars, holes, and cells;

In halls ye deck another dwells.

Why shake the chains ye wrought? Ye see

The steel ye tempered glance on ye.

VIII

With plough and spade, and hoe and loom,

Trace your grave, and build your tomb,

And weave your winding-sheet, till fair

England be your sepulchre.

WORK

I

Men of England, wherefore plough

For the lords who lay ye low?

Wherefore weave with toil and care

The rich robes your tyrants wear?

II

Wherefore feed, and clothe, and save,

From the cradle to the grave,

Those ungrateful drones who would

Drain your sweat – nay, drink your blood?

III

Wherefore, Bees of England, forge

Many a weapon, chain, and scourge,

That these stingless drones may spoil

The forced produce of your toil?

IV

Have ye leisure, comfort, calm,

Shelter, food, love’s gentle balm?

Or what is it ye buy so dear

With your pain and with your fear?

V

The seed ye sow, another reaps;

The wealth ye find, another keeps;

The robes ye weave, another wears;

The arms ye forge, another bears.

VI

Sow seed, – but let no tyrant reap;

Find wealth, – let no impostor heap;

Weave robes, – let not the idle wear;

Forge arms, – in your defence to bear.

VII

Shrink to your cellars, holes, and cells;

In halls ye deck another dwells.

Why shake the chains ye wrought? Ye see

The steel ye tempered glance on ye.

VIII

With plough and spade, and hoe and loom,

Trace your grave, and build your tomb,

And weave your winding-sheet, till fair

England be your sepulchre.

PROFIT

relaxation

IV

Have ye leisure, comfort, calm,

Shelter, food, love’s gentle balm?

Or what is it ye buy so dear

With your pain and with your fear?

I

Men of England, wherefore plough

For the lords who lay ye low?

Wherefore weave with toil and care

The rich robes your tyrants wear?

II

Wherefore feed, and clothe, and save,

From the cradle to the gravegrave,

Those ungrateful drones who would

Drain your sweat – nay, drink your blood?

III

Wherefore, Bees of England, forge

Many a weapon, chain, and scourge,

That these stingless drones may spoil

The forced produce of your toil?

IV

Have ye leisure, comfort, calm,

Shelter, food, love’s gentle balm?

Or what is it ye buy so dear

With your pain and with your fear?

V

The seed ye sow, another reaps;

The wealth ye find, another keeps;

The robes ye weave, another wears;

The arms ye forge, another bears.

VI

Sow seed, – but let no tyrant reap;

Find wealth, – let no impostor heap;

Weave robes, – let not the idle wear;

Forge arms, – in your defence to bear.

VII

Shrink to your cellars, holes, and cells;

In halls ye deck another dwells.

Why shake the chains ye wrought? Ye see

The steel ye tempered glance on ye.

VIII

With plough and spade, and hoe and loom,

Trace your gravegrave, and build your tombtomb,

And weave your winding-sheetwinding-sheet, till fair

England be your sepulchresepulchre.

DEATHVIOLENCE & WARFARE = death or

work yourself to

Bitter irony in the FINAL WORDS

…till fairEngland be your sepulchresepulchre.

JUST, HONEST, MORAL, HONOURABLEBEAUTIFUL, LIGHT

TOMB

Link to use of « dear » in stanza 4

DICTION & IMAGERY

METAPHORS

« Drain your sweat » (literal?) « nay, drink your blood » (metaphorical)

« Bees of England », « ungrateful drones », « stingless drones »

« buy…with your pain and with your fear »

DICTION & IMAGERY

DICTION & IMAGERY

« why shake the chains ye wrought? (metaphorical?)… Ye see the steel ye tempered glance on thee» (literal?)

« Trace your grave and build your tomb,

And weave your winding sheet, till fair

England be your sepulchre » (literal or metaphorical?)

GRAMMAR: Verbs

• present tense

• Imperatives & shift in tone:

Sow, find, weave, forge (stanza 5)...

shrink to your cellars, trace your grave,

build your tomb, weave your winding sheet (stanzas 6 & 7)

GRAMMAR: conjunctions« and »

« Feed and clothe and save » (stanza 2)

« With plough and spade and hoe and loom » (stanza 8)

Compare to listing:

« ……..leisure, comfort, calm,Shelter, food, love’s gentle balm” (stanza 4)

SOUNDS • Rhyming Couplets• Meter/rhythm: 7 or 8 syllables per line, changing

pattern of stress (stressed/unstressed pattern changes)

• Alliteration and Assonance• Repetition• Harsh short sounds• Long vowel sounds• Enjambment• End stopped lines• Caesura

EFFECTS

SONG: Hymn praising workersof England?

Anthem of class struggle?EMOTIONS:

Regular rhythms and patterns = Rousing & Persuasive =

workers joined together against common enemy

Stirring up anger and resentmentBreaks in rhythm and patterns =

Agitation increases Tone increasingly

angry, sarcastic and bitter =RISE UP AND FIGHT or

DIE?

PERSONAL RESPONSE

Does Shelley’s message still apply?

Does the poem make you think or feel differently towards issues such as the exploitation of workers and inequality in society?

How do you think workers in 1819 would have responded to Shelley’s rallying cry?