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Classic and Contemporary Poetry
SONG TO THE MEN OF ENGLAND, by PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: Men of england, wherefore plough Last Line: England be your sepulchre. Variant Title(s): True Freedom Subject(s): Freedom; Labor & Laborers; Manchester, England; Massacres; Liberty; Work; Workers | |||
Men of England, wherefore plough For the lords who lay ye low? Wherefore weave with toil and care The rich robes your tyrants wear? Wherefore feed, and clothe, and save, From the cradle to the grave, Those ungrateful drones who would Drain your sweat -- nay, drink your blood! Wherefore, Bees of England, forge Many a weapon, chain, and scourge, That these stingless drones may spoil The forced produce of your toil? 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? The seed ye sow, another reaps; The wealth ye find, another keeps; The robes ye weave, another wears, The arms ye forge, another bears. Sow seed -- but let no tyrant reap; Find wealth -- let no imposter heap; Weave robes -- let not the idle wear; Forge arms -- in your defence to bear. 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. 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. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...AFTER WORKING SIXTY HOURS AGAIN FOR WHAT REASON by HICOK. BOB DAY JOB AND NIGHT JOB by ANDREW HUDGINS BIXBY'S LANDING by ROBINSON JEFFERS ON BUILDING WITH STONE by ROBINSON JEFFERS LINES FROM A PLUTOCRATIC POETASTER TO A DITCH-DIGGER by FRANKLIN PIERCE ADAMS IN CALIFORNIA: MORNING, EVENING, LATE JANUARY by DENISE LEVERTOV A DIRGE by PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY ADONAIS; AN ELEGY ON THE DEATH OF JOHN KEATS by PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY |
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