POEMS WRITTEN IN 1819 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· III Then trample and dance, thou Oppressor! Thou art sole lord and possessor Of her corpses, and clods, and abortions - they pave Thy path to the grave. Lines written during the Castlereagh Administration. Medwin, 1832 || England, Harvard MS. Published by Medwin, The Athenæum, December 8, 1832. i. 4 death-white, Harvard MS., Frederickson MS. | white, Medwin, 1832. 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. Ay, marry thy ghastly wife! Spread thy couch in the chamber of Life; Marry Ruin, thou Tyrant! and Hell be thy guide To the bed of the bride! SONG TO THE MEN OF ENGLAND I MEN of England, wherefore plough iv. 1 festival, Harvard MS., Frederickson MS., Mrs. Shelley, 18391 || festal, Medwin, 1832. iv. 4 that, Frederickson MS. || which, Harvard MS., Medwin, 1832. v. 2 Disquiet, Frederickson MS, Harvard MS., Mrs. Shelley, 18391 || Disgust, Medwin, 1832. v. 4 Hell, Frederickson MS. || God, Harvard MS., Medwin, 1832. 5 the bride, Harvard MS., Frederickson MS., Mrs. Shelley, 18391 || thy, Harvard MS. cancelled, Medwin, 1832. Song: To the Men of England. Published by Mrs. Shelley, 18391. Wherefore weave with toil and care II Wherefore feed, and clothe, and save, Those ungrateful drones who would Wherefore, Bees of England, forge IV Have ye leisure, comfort, calm, V The seed ye sow, another reaps ; VI Sow seed, but let no tyrant reap; VII Shrink to your cellars, holes, and cells; Why shake the chains ye wrought? Ye see VIII With plough and spade, and hoe and loom, As from an ancestral oak Two empty ravens sound their clarion, Yell by yell, and croak by croak, When they scent the noonday smoke Of fresh human carrion: II As two gibbering night-birds flit And the stars are none, or few: To S[idmouth and C[astlerea]gh. Harvard MS. || Similes, Medwin, 1832. Similes, Mrs. Shelley, 18391. Similes. For Two Political Characters of 1819, Mrs. Shelley, 18392. Published by Medwin, The Athenæum, August 25, 1832. ii. 2 yew, Medwin, 1832 || hue, Medwin, 1833. 4 moon, Rossetti || morn, Medwin, 1832. III As a shark and dog-fish wait, For the negro-ship, whose freight Is the theme of their debate, Wrinkling their red gills the while — IV Are ye, two vultures sick for battle, Two bloodless wolves whose dry throats rattle, ENGLAND IN 1819 AN old, mad, blind, despised and dying king; Rulers, who neither see, nor feel, nor know, An army which liberticide and prey Makes as a two-edged sword to all who wield; England in 1819. Published by Mrs. Shelley, 18391. |