“England in 1819” by Percy Shelley
“Golden and sanguine laws which tempt and slay;
Religion, Christless, Godless-a book sealed;
A Senate, Time’s worst statute, unrepealed,
Are graves, from which a glorious Phantom may
Burst, to illuminate our tempestuous day” (Lines 10-14)
Burke defines the sublime as something that is compelling and a great sight to behold. It may not always be conventional, but it does hold our attention the way a piece of a valuable artifact would. However, in Shelley’s poem, there is an undertone of irony when talking of the sublime. It has been defeated by the beautiful; the unnatural creation of mankind. Since the sublime is supposed to come of as terrifying and overwhelming, Shelley makes a point of stating that England is currently without religion (11). In religion, there is always a supreme being, one who knows and judges all. A being so powerful that he cannot be explained in terms of physical appearance, but his will and might have been demonstrated over the course of history. This being is none other than God himself, and is the perfect example of the sublime. God cannot be conquered, nor is he to be challenged. For a better word, he is omnipotent, an intangible trait of anything sublime. Without such a power to control the monarchy, England is lost.
But perhaps there is hope. In Lines 13-14, Percy hints at a Phantom coming forth from the “graves” of the once celebrated forms of faith and ridding the crippled country of the ones who disable it. It is plausible that the Phantom is the ghost of England, coming forth to be born again. The Phantom probably represents the people who have suffered too long at the hands of an abusive king and wish for reform. In the last line of the poem, Shelley wishes to have the Phantom shed light on the state of disarray that England finds itself in. In doing so, Shelley himself sheds a whole new light on the poem. Perhaps England is a sublime. Even the country is being driven to nothing, there is still something that has inspired the poet to write about it. It is not beautiful, it is in a horrendous condition. England is in darkness and not the happiest place in the world. However, Shelley has demonstrated his “untamed power of the natural world” through his poem and gives not only himself but his reader hope for a change.
