Great poetry is great not because of what it says but because of how it Few poems say anything that is very profound; instead, the best of them use language in novel, memorable, and effective ways. Certainly this is true of Percy Bysshe Shelley's famous sonnet "England in 1819." In this poem Shelley describes the depressing, dark, and dirty state of affairs caused in Britain by political, social, and spiritual corruption. However, this poem would not be nearly as effective if it were not for Shelley's powerful use of such classic rhetorical devices as adjectives, alliteration, assonance, imagery, irony, lists, themes, and verbs. One device that Shelley employs very potently is the use ofadjectives. The sonnet is full of vivid descriptive words. Such wordsinclude "old," "mad," "blind," "despised," "dying" (l. 1), "dull" (l. 2), "muddy" (l. 3), "leech-like" (l. 5), "Golden," "sanguine" (l. 10),"Christless," "Godless" (l. 11), "glorious" (l. 13) and "tempestuous" (l.14). All these adjectives are obviously strong, memorable, and effective. A second technique that Shelley utilizes quite skillfully is alliteration. The poem is filled with the repetition of consonant sounds. For example, alliteration is apparent in such words as "despised and dying" (l. 1), "dregs" and "dull" (l. 2), "mud" and "muddy" (l. 3), "blind," "blood," and "blow" (l. 6), and "starved and stabbed" (l. 7). Shelley's use of this kind of emphasis on consonants makes his phrasing linger in one's ears. A third tactic that Shelley uses very strongly is the use of assonance. The poem includes several repetitions of vowel sound in stressed syllables. Examples of such assonance include "blind, despised, and dying" (l. 1); "see," "feel," and"leechlike" (ll. 4-5); "mud" and "muddy" (l. 3); "graves" and "may" (l. 13). Such use of assonance gives the poem rhythm and makes it more beautiful. [VERY NICE] A fourth device that Shelley makes use of is imagery....
