England in 1819Great poetry is such not for what it says but for how it is formulated. Few poems say anything very profound; instead, the best ones use language in new, 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 situation caused in Britain by political, social and spiritual corruption. However, this poem would not be as effective if it were not for Shelley's powerful use of classic rhetorical devices such as adjectives, alliteration, assonance, imagery, irony, lists, themes, and verbs. the use of adjectives. The sonnet is full of vivid descriptive words. Such words include “old,” “mad,” “blind,” “despised,” “dying” (l. 1), “dull” (l. 2), “muddy” (l. 3), “like a leech " (l. 5), "Golden", "sanguine" (l. 10), "Christless", "Godless" (l. 11), "glorious" (l. 13) and "stormy" (l. 14). All these adjectives are obviously strong, memorable and effective. A second technique that Shelley uses quite skillfully is alliteration. The poem is filled with the repetition of consonant sounds. For example, alliteration is evident in words such as "despised and dying" (l. 1), "scum" and "boring" (l. 2), "mud" and "muddy" (l. 3), "blind ", "blood" and "strike" (l. 6), and "hungry and stabbed" (l. 7). Shelley's use of this type of emphasis on consonants makes his phrasing stick in the ears. A third tactic that Shelley uses very strongly is the use of assonance. The poem includes several repetitions of the vowel sound in the stressed syllables. Examples of how... ... middle of paper ......empt" (l. 10),"slay" (l. 10), "burst" (l. 14), and "illumine" (l . 14) are used to describe the terrible situation the country was in. Since the verbs are stronger and clearer than the adjectives, they make the poem more effective. In this poem Shelley uses rhetorical devices such as adjectives, alliteration, assonance, imagery, irony, list, repetition, theme and verb make his poem memorable and effective. These rhetorical devices make the poem memorable and effective good poet like Shelley makes his poetry powerful a splendid example of how one can effectively express one's opinions through a poem. The reason why poetry is effective is not because of what it says but how it is formulated.