s that they are digging their own graves by giving power to their initially harmless lords. Here, commanding them to dig their graves is different from the commands he gave them in lines twenty-one to twenty-four. By telling them to dig their graves, he is simply telling them what is going to happen if they continue to live with how things are.
What is actually happening is a juxtaposition of two ideas: of how things are, how things should be, and how things are again. In this way, the poet successfully delivers an image, a message. He successfully shows the contrast between the two ideas by sandwiching one inside the repetitions of the other. The middle idea, lines twenty-one to twenty-four, which is that of empowerment, then becomes like a bright, red flower sticking out amidst a dark, dreary landscape of reality. Furthermore, the last stanzas delivering the final repetition of the initial imagery are so dark and urgent with a hint of insult that it stirs the emotion of the reader. A worker reading the poem would have been angered by the last stanza and be stirred to follow true message of the poem in order to prevent the ending from becoming a reality.
2.3 The analysis of the song В«To The Men of EnglandВ» from the point of view of stylistic phonetics
The stylistic analysis of the Shelley's song В«To the Men of EnglandВ» will be better understood with the help of the following table:
Example
Commentary
В«Men of England, wherefore plough
For the lords who lay ye low ? В»
Here is the imperfect rhyme in the first stanza. These first two lines are meant to be an appeal, expressed through a syntactical stylistic device of rhetorical question .
В« W herefore w eave w ith toil and care,
The r ich r obes your tyrants wear ? В»
Here is the incomplete compound rhyme, which can only be perceived in reading aloud, since the pronunciation of В«careВ» and В«wearВ» are quite similar: [keЙ™] and [weЙ™].
There is also a case of alliteration - werefore, weave, with; rich robes. Here it aims at imparting a melodical effect to the stanza, thus making it sound agitative.
В«Wherefore feed, and clothe, and save
From the cradle to the grave ... В»
В«Have ye leisure, comfort, calm ,
Shelter, food, love's gentle balm ? В»
В«Weave robes, - let no idler wear ;
Forge arms, - in your defence to bear . В»
В«Shrink to your cellars, holes, and cells ;
In halls ye deck, another dwells . В»
Here are the cases of the full or identical rhyme. The rhyming scheme is couplet (Aa bb). Throughout the whole poem there are only several cases of different kinds of incomplete rhymes and the full rhymes are prevailing. Using rhymes, the author reinforces the meaning he wishes to convey and gives a tone and pace of the poem, making it sound agitating, worrying and sometimes even looming.
В«The seed ye sow, another reaps;
The wealth ye find, another keeps; ...
В«Sow seed - but let no tyrant reap;
Find wealth, - let no impostor heap; ... В»
The ideas, expressed in these lines from fourth and sixth stanzas are expressed through a syntactical stylistic device of parallel constructions , forming a kind of antithesis. Although this stylistic device is syntactical, it also produces a strong phonetic effect, making these lines sound imperative.
В«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 . В»
The lines of the last stanza bear cases of compound rhyme , which can only be perceived in oratory speech. The last words of each line are pronounced quite similar: [lu: m] - [tu: m], [feЙ™] - ['sep (Й™) lkЙ™]. This stanza with its broken rhymes presents a kind of sinister warning.
В«Why shake the chains ye wrought? Ye see
The steel ye temp...
