Analyses the textual Rhetoric of an author - Essay Example

England in 1819 Percy Bysshe Shelley poem d “England in 1819” was a scathing social commentary about the of England in 1819. In the poem,England was described as "starved and stabbed in the untilled field. The biggest criticism however was drawn against the King, his prince and army who was described as "old, blind, mad, despised, leech-like and godless". The rest of the criticism was peppered with literary elements that almost filled every lines. The structure of the poem is typical of sonnets which is composed of 14 lines and is written in iambic pentameter.

But unlike the traditional sonnet that rhymes as a a-b-a-b, c-d-c-d, e-f-e-f, g-g, Shelly's" England in 1819" is written in the rhyming scheme of a-b-a-b-a-b, c-d-c-d, c-c-d-d. The poem also used the rhetorical elements of enumeratio or describing in details, allusion which makes reference to certain objects, person, or event and analogy which compare things with the same characteristics and hyperbole which exaggerates events, characteristics or objects to emphasize what the author is trying to say.

The use of enumeratio was very obvious in the description of King George and the people around him that the reader may wonder if Shelly has personal grudge with the king. His despicable traits are enumerated as "old, mad, blind, despised and dying" who "neither see, nor feel, nor know". Allusion was also used about its law as "Christless" and the people who are starved and stabbed in the untilled field. Of course Shelly did not mean that the people were stabbed but were treated with injustice in their work that provides them starvation wages.

The use of alliteration as literary device was also present in the lines "blind in blood, without a blow" and "mud from a muddy spring" that repeated the first consonant sounds. Analogy was also used in referring to an army that prey as a two-edged sword that instead of protecting the people, they instead take advantage of them. The entire poem was of course a hyperbole or an exaggeration. England in 1819 may have been badly governed but its king, administrators and army were not leeches who would cling until they drop as Shelly have described.

Nor are they blind because how could they be in the army if they cannot even see and of course King George is not deprived of his eyesight nor is he mad but only insensitive to the plight of the people in England. But through the use of hyperbole, we get the picture and understood how horrible a ruler King George was and if he was not, Shelly must have a deep grudge against the reign of King George and his army that he was painted as the worst ruler that ever lived. The use of literary elements in the poem demonstrates how these techniques can make an otherwise inanimate poem interesting.

Its characters suddenly became colorful with the use of hyperbole and analogy. The rhyming scheme also helps us better understand the poem which is compressed in the highly disciplined lines of iambic pentameter. __ The World is too much with Us William Woodsworth's "The World is Too Much with Us is filled with the literary element of allusions, simile and analogy. Allusions are the use of words to reference to something else such as person, object, place or literary piece. This was obvious in the lines "We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!

/This Sea that bares her bosom to the moon". In this line, Woodsworth of course did not literally gave his heart away because that organ is necessary for him to live and the absence of it would kill him. Instead, he meant that we ceased to "feel" how it is to live. He used the heart to allude feelings and the act of giving it away meant the cessation of feelings. This was also true with the line that the sea bared her bosom to the moon because the sea just cannot do that because it does not have a body part such as bosom.

It was however an allusion of the moon as something high like a dream and the bosom is actually our deepest selves. Taken together, it meant that we no longer aspire to realize our dreams that would make us happy but is consumed with materialism that we instead spend our energy working to acquire material things. The line that "the sight of Proteus rising from the sea" nor "Triton [would] blow his wreathed horn" are of course cannot be literally taken because we do not even know if Proteus indeed exists nor Triton would literally blow his horn.

But even if they really did rose from the sea and blew their horns, it still would not make any sense. But they were instead used as a metaphor for something else. Since they are gods where ancient people pray for something better, they represent higher aspirations. In this poem, they represented our our hope and our dreams which was killed by our materialism will again rise within us that we will again be happy.