England in 1819Great poetry is great not because of what it says but because of the way it is phrased. Few poems say anything very profound; instead, the best of them use language in new, memorable, and effective ways. This is certainly the case with Percy Bysshe Shelley’s famous sonnet “England in 1819.” In this poem, Shelley describes the depressing, dark and dirty situation brought about in Britain by political, social and spiritual corruption. However, this poem would not be as effective without Shelley's powerful use of classic rhetorical devices such as adjectives, alliteration, assonance, imagery, irony, lists, themes, and verbs. One device that Shelley employs very powerfully is the use of adjectives. The sonnet is full of vivid descriptive words. These words include "old", "fool", "blind", "despised", "dying" (l. 1), "dull" (l. 2), "muddy" (l. 3), "like a leech.” (l. 5), “Golden”, “sanguinous” (l. 10), “Christless”, “Unholy” (l. 11), “glorious” (l. 13) and “stormy” (l.14) . All of these adjectives are obviously strong, memorable and effective. A second technique that Shelley uses quite skillfully is alliteration. The poem is full of repetitions of consonants. For example, alliteration is apparent in words such 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 type of consonant stress causes his phrasing to swell. lingers in the ears. A third tactic that Shelley uses very strongly is the use of assonance. The poem includes several repetitions of vowels in stressed syllables. Examples such as... ... middle of paper ... ...empty" (l. 10), "kill" (l. 10), "burst" (l. 14) and "illuminate" (l. 14) are used to describe the terrible situation in which the country found itself . Because verbs are stronger and clearer than adjectives, they make the poem more effective. The choice of depressing verbs gives the desired dark atmosphere of the setting. In this poem, Shelley uses rhetorical devices such as adjectives, alliteration, assonance. , imagery, irony, list, repetition, theme and verb to make his poem memorable and effective. These rhetorical devices make the poem memorable and effective. It is through such techniques that a good poet like Shelley makes his poem “England in 1918” powerful. a superb example of how it is possible to express one's opinions effectively through a poem. The reason the poem is effective is not because of what it says but because of the way it is worded..