The Politics of Percy Shelley Essay -- Biography Biographies Essays

The Politics of Percy Shelley Following the French Revolution and Napoleonic wars, Europe was left torn by economic decline, political turmoil, and uncertainty. step up of these events sprang writers who saw it as their duty to ease the social and political dilemmas through their inspirational writings. One of these Nineteenth century writers was Percy Shelley, who is known for the revolutionary and defiant ideas he expressed in his works. Many of his writings such as A Song Men of England, The Mask of Anarchy, and Ozymandias, reflect his radical political approach to solving Englands troubles. Although Shelley does non explicitly voice a cry for socialism, his poems do call for a proletarian response to the tyrannical leaders of England, yet he ultimately fails in sparking a revolution due to several contradictions as well as the fact that they remained unpublished based on these issues, Shelley became merely a precursor to the socialist ideas of the late Nineteenth century. One of Percy Shelleys boldest poems concerning a proletarian uprising is A Song Men of England, in which the diction and style of the piece evoked a find of urgency and magnitude. Just as Ifor Evans claimed that Shelley had a personality in revolt, it should also be noted that his poetry urged others to revolt(140). When read aloud, the poem sounds more handle a fiery speech than a Romantic piece of literature. Shelley used vivid images to catch the readers attention, such as Drain your sweat? nay, drink your root? (A Song line 8). The sweat and blood were images that the en-slaved workers of England were well accustomed to, so Shelley used these words not only to attract attention just ... ...orton Anthology of slope Literature.Vol. 2.Ed. M.H. Abrams and Stephen Greenblatt. 7th ed. New York W. W. Norton, 2000. 728. ---. The Mask of Anarchy Written on the Occasion of the Massacre at Manchester.The Complete Poetical Works (1904).Literature Online. 5 Ap r. 2002 <http//lion.chadwyck.com/po_basic/fulltext? censure=N&TO CHITS=N&ALL=Y&ACTION=BYID&ID=Z200484027. ---. Ozymandias.The Norton Anthology of English Literature.Vol. 2.Ed. M.H. Abrams and Stephen Greenblatt. 7th ed. New York W. W. Norton, 2000. 725 -26. ---. To Sidmouth and Castlereagh.The Norton Anthology of English Literature.Vol. 2.Ed. M.H. Abrams and Stephen Greenblatt. 7th ed. New York W. W. Norton, 2000. 728 -29. Wolfson, Susan. Formal Charges. Stanford Stanford UP, 1997. Woodring, Carl. Politics in English romantic poetry. Cambridge Harvard UP, 1970.