Lines Written During The Castlereagh Administration



I.
Corpses are cold in the tomb;
Stones on the pavement are dumb;
Abortions are dead in the womb,
And their mothers look pale—like the death-white shore
Of Albion, free no more.

II.
Her sons are as stones in the way--
They are masses of senseless clay--
They are trodden, and move not away,--
The abortion with which SHE travaileth
Is Liberty, smitten to death.

III.
Then trample and dance, thou Oppressor!
For thy victim is no redresser;
Thou art sole lord and possessor
Of her corpses, and clods, and abortions—they pave
Thy path to the grave.

IV.
Hearest thou the festival din
Of Death, and Destruction, and Sin,
And Wealth crying 'Havoc!' within?
’Tis the bacchanal triumph that makes Truth dumb,
Thine Epithalamium.

V.
Ay, marry thy ghastly wife!
Let Fear and Disquiet and Strife
Spread thy couch in the chamber of Life!
Marry Ruin, thou Tyrant! and Hell be thy guide
To the bed of the bride!

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

48 sec read
109

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABCBDD AEEEFF AGDGHH HIIICB XJJJKK
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 884
Words 163
Stanzas 5
Stanza Lengths 6, 6, 6, 6, 6

Percy Bysshe Shelley

Percy Bysshe Shelley was one of the major English Romantic poets and is regarded by critics as among the finest lyric poets in the English language. more…

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    "Lines Written During The Castlereagh Administration" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Mar. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/29150/lines-written-during-the-castlereagh-administration>.

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