1. SONG TO THE MEN OF ENGLAND
SONG rhyming couplets, regular rhythm, repetition, alliteration =
HYMN, ANTHEM or PROTEST SONG, CALL TO ARMS
TO addressed to a specific group
THE MEN OF ENGLAND = the labourers who make ENGLAND, ( are masters not men?)

2. VIEWPOINT System is unjust and England is tainted by the injustice
Workers are dehumanised as masters suck their lifeblood
Workers should rebel and work only for themselves
TONE
Mounting anger as poem progresses
Bitterness, Rage, Contempt, Frustration

3. I
Men of England, wherefore plough
For the lords who lay ye low?
Wherefore weave with toil and care
The rich robes your tyrants wear? II
Wherefore feed, and clothe, and save,
From the cradle to the grave,
Those ungrateful drones who would
Drain your sweat – nay, drink your blood?
III
Wherefore, Bees of England, forge
Many a weapon, chain, and scourge,
That these stingless drones may spoil
The forced produce of your toil? IV
Have ye leisure, comfort, calm,
Shelter, food, love’s gentle balm?
Or what is it ye buy so dear
With your pain and with your fear? V
The seed ye sow, another reaps;
The wealth ye find, another keeps;
The robes ye weave, another wears;
The arms ye forge, another bears. VI
Sow seed, – but let no tyrant reap;
Find wealth, – let no impostor heap;
Weave robes, – let not the idle wear;
Forge arms, – in your defence to bear.
VII
Shrink to your cellars, holes, and cells;
In halls ye deck another dwells.
Why shake the chains ye wrought? Ye see
The steel ye tempered glance on ye.
VIII
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.

4. STRUCTURE I Men of England, wherefore plough
For the lords who lay ye low?
Wherefore weave with toil and care
The rich robes your tyrants wear? II
Wherefore feed, and clothe, and save,
From the cradle to the grave,
Those ungrateful drones who would
Drain your sweat – nay, drink your blood?
III
Wherefore, Bees of England, forge
Many a weapon, chain, and scourge,
That these stingless drones may spoil
The forced produce of your toil? IV
Have ye leisure, comfort, calm,
Shelter, food, love’s gentle balm?
Or what is it ye buy so dear
With your pain and with your fear? V
The seed ye sow, another reaps;
The wealth ye find, another keeps;
The robes ye weave, another wears;
The arms ye forge, another bears. VI
Sow seed, – but let no tyrant reap;
Find wealth, – let no impostor heap;
Weave robes, – let not the idle wear;
Forge arms, – in your defence to bear.
VII
Shrink to your cellars, holes, and cells;
In halls ye deck another dwells.
Why shake the chains ye wrought? Ye see
The steel ye tempered glance on ye.
VIII
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.

5. STRUCTURE Stanzas 1 – 4: QUESTIONS
Why work for tyrants who exploit you?
Stanza 5: STATEMENTS
The work you do & things you make benefit only others
Stanzas 6 – 8: IMPERATIVES (ORDERS)
Work, but for yourselves. ……
Fight back or shrivel & make your own graves.

6. DICTION & IMAGERY WORKERS MASTERS
versus I
Men of England, wherefore plough
For the lords who lay ye low?
Wherefore weave with toil and care
The rich robes your tyrants wear? II
Wherefore feed, and clothe, and save,
From the cradle to the grave,
Those ungrateful drones who would
Drain your sweat – nay, drink your blood?
III
Wherefore, Bees of England, forge
Many a weapon, chain, and scourge,
That these stingless drones may spoil
The forced produce of your toil? IV
Have ye leisure, comfort, calm,
Shelter, food, love’s gentle balm?
Or what is it ye buy so dear
With your pain and with your fear? V
The seed ye sow, another reaps;
The wealth ye find, another keeps;
The robes ye weave, another wears;
The arms ye forge, another bears. VI
Sow seed, – but let no tyrant reap;
Find wealth, – let no impostor heap;
Weave robes, – let not the idle wear;
Forge arms, – in your defence to bear.
VII
Shrink to your cellars, holes, and cells;
In halls ye deck another dwells.
Why shake the chains ye wrought? Ye see
The steel ye tempered glance on ye.
VIII
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.

7. Men of England Bees of England Ye Workers – directly addressed
DICTION & IMAGERY
Workers – directly addressed
Men of England
Bees of England Ye

8. Masters lords who lay ye low tyrants ungrateful drones
DICTION & IMAGERY
Masters
lords who lay ye low
tyrants
ungrateful drones
stingless drones
another (5)
tyrant
imposter
the idle

9. DICTION & IMAGERY semantic fields work profit relaxation violence & warfare death

10. WORK I Men of England, wherefore plough For the lords who lay ye low?
Wherefore weave with toil and care
The rich robes your tyrants wear? II
Wherefore feed, and clothe, and save,
From the cradle to the grave,
Those ungrateful drones who would
Drain your sweat – nay, drink your blood?
III
Wherefore, Bees of England, forge
Many a weapon, chain, and scourge,
That these stingless drones may spoil
The forced produce of your toil? IV
Have ye leisure, comfort, calm,
Shelter, food, love’s gentle balm?
Or what is it ye buy so dear
With your pain and with your fear? V
The seed ye sow, another reaps;
The wealth ye find, another keeps;
The robes ye weave, another wears;
The arms ye forge, another bears. VI
Sow seed, – but let no tyrant reap;
Find wealth, – let no impostor heap;
Weave robes, – let not the idle wear;
Forge arms, – in your defence to bear.
VII
Shrink to your cellars, holes, and cells;
In halls ye deck another dwells.
Why shake the chains ye wrought? Ye see
The steel ye tempered glance on ye.
VIII
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.
Stanza 4 is the only stanza without reference to work – references here are to leisure. Why? To what effect?

11. PROFIT I Men of England, wherefore plough
For the lords who lay ye low?
Wherefore weave with toil and care
The rich robes your tyrants wear? II
Wherefore feed, and clothe, and save,
From the cradle to the grave,
Those ungrateful drones who would
Drain your sweat – nay, drink your blood?
III
Wherefore, Bees of England, forge
Many a weapon, chain, and scourge,
That these stingless drones may spoil
The forced produce of your toil? IV
Have ye leisure, comfort, calm,
Shelter, food, love’s gentle balm?
Or what is it ye buy so dear
With your pain and with your fear? V
The seed ye sow, another reaps;
The wealth ye find, another keeps;
The robes ye weave, another wears;
The arms ye forge, another bears. VI
Sow seed, – but let no tyrant reap;
Find wealth, – let no impostor heap;
Weave robes, – let not the idle wear;
Forge arms, – in your defence to bear.
VII
Shrink to your cellars, holes, and cells;
In halls ye deck another dwells.
Why shake the chains ye wrought? Ye see
The steel ye tempered glance on ye.
VIII
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.

12. relaxation IV Have ye leisure, comfort, calm,
Shelter, food, love’s gentle balm?
Or what is it ye buy so dear
With your pain and with your fear?

13. = death or VIOLENCE & WARFARE work yourself to DEATH I
Men of England, wherefore plough
For the lords who lay ye low?
Wherefore weave with toil and care
The rich robes your tyrants wear? II
Wherefore feed, and clothe, and save,
From the cradle to the grave,
Those ungrateful drones who would
Drain your sweat – nay, drink your blood?
III
Wherefore, Bees of England, forge
Many a weapon, chain, and scourge,
That these stingless drones may spoil
The forced produce of your toil? IV
Have ye leisure, comfort, calm,
Shelter, food, love’s gentle balm?
Or what is it ye buy so dear
With your pain and with your fear? V
The seed ye sow, another reaps;
The wealth ye find, another keeps;
The robes ye weave, another wears;
The arms ye forge, another bears. VI
Sow seed, – but let no tyrant reap;
Find wealth, – let no impostor heap;
Weave robes, – let not the idle wear;
Forge arms, – in your defence to bear.
VII
Shrink to your cellars, holes, and cells;
In halls ye deck another dwells.
Why shake the chains ye wrought? Ye see
The steel ye tempered glance on ye.
VIII
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.

14. Bitter irony in the FINAL WORDS …till fair England be your sepulchre.
DICTION & IMAGERY
BEAUTIFUL, LIGHT
JUST, HONEST, MORAL, HONOURABLE
TOMB
Link to use of « dear » in stanza 4

15. « Bees of England », « ungrateful drones », « stingless drones »
DICTION & IMAGERY
METAPHORS
« Drain your sweat » (literal?) « nay, drink your blood » (metaphorical)
« Bees of England », « ungrateful drones », « stingless drones »
« buy…with your pain and with your fear »

16. « Trace your grave and build your tomb,
DICTION & IMAGERY
« why shake the chains ye wrought? (metaphorical?)… Ye see the steel ye tempered glance on thee» (literal?)
« Trace your grave and build your tomb,
And weave your winding sheet, till fair
England be your sepulchre » (literal or metaphorical?)

17. GRAMMAR: Verbs present tense Imperatives & shift in tone:
Sow, find, weave, forge (stanza 5)...
shrink to your cellars, trace your grave,
build your tomb, weave your winding sheet (stanzas 6 & 7)

18. GRAMMAR: conjunctions
« and »
« Feed and clothe and save » (stanza 2)
« With plough and spade and hoe and loom » (stanza 8)
Compare to listing:
« ……..leisure, comfort, calm,
Shelter, food, love’s gentle balm” (stanza 4)

19. SOUNDS Rhyming Couplets
Meter/rhythm: 7 or 8 syllables per line, changing pattern of stress (stressed/unstressed pattern changes)
Alliteration and Assonance
Repetition
Harsh short sounds
Long vowel sounds
Enjambment
End stopped lines
Caesura
SONG:
Hymn praising workersof England?
Anthem of class struggle?
EMOTIONS:
Regular rhythms and patterns =
Rousing & Persuasive =
workers joined together against
common enemy
Stirring up anger and resentment
Breaks in rhythm and patterns =
Agitation increases
Tone increasingly
angry, sarcastic and bitter =
RISE UP AND FIGHT or
DIE?
EFFECTS

20. PERSONAL RESPONSE Does Shelley’s message still apply?
Does the poem make you think or feel differently towards issues such as the exploitation of workers and inequality in society?
How do you think workers in 1819 would have responded to Shelley’s rallying cry?