Percy Bysshe Shelley was born England in 1792 and died in Italy in 1822. He is considered one of the most important English Romantic poets. His most famous poems include Ode to the West Wind, To a Skylark, The Masque of Anarchy, and Prometheus Unbond.Song-To the Men of England was written in 1819. [1]

This poem consists of a series of eight quatrains, each rhyming a-a-b-b. Since the poem was designed as a song, it is difficult to establish a fixed pattern for the metrical foot. Iambs and trochees are interwoven to form a complex pattern which is easy to be declaimed or sung. Long and short vowels mingle in the same line to provide a feeling of cadence and rhythm.

Half rhymes are used in lines 7-8: would - blood.

In the poem, Shelley explicitly tackles the problems within the poor classes in relation to the ruling ones. Using direct questions addressed to these poorest classes, he asks them why they allow the aristocracy to make profit from them, squandering their force as workers and looking down on their situation. Almost in a disdainful way, Shelley appears to be negatively astonished by the people's acceptance of the ruling classes, roughly forcing them to act violently against the nobles. That violent reaction is a must since it is the only way to deflect the expected future: the symbolical death of that class.

Song-To the Men of England is a powerful progression of events in the form of a poem. That power is already conveyed in the first words of the direct question asked by the poet:

That primary question not only establishes the general topic of the poem -the social unbalance- but also makes a cutting remark asking why they are allowing that unfair status quo. Thus, Shelley is not blaming the aristocracy for taking advantage of that low class. He is openly criticizing the poor for having provoked that unbalance due to their slovenliness. Nevertheless, he as the observer is conscious of the social unease it causes and proposes incites a social revolution to solve this problem:

This quatrain works as the comparative and antonymous solution to the acts of injustice launched in the previous one:

Therefore, Shelley is not only making obvious the social divergences between the two opposing classes but also pushing the labourers and workers against the upper class to address them towards a revolutionary attitude like that of the French people. In addition, not doing so means bending down in front of the noblemen which would mean supporting and extending that social inequality over the years. It would eventually led to the passing of the lower classes as conveyed in these last lines:

In a detailed analysis of the poem, following the given quatrains, we find some interesting characteristics. Thus, in the first quatrain, "Men of England" is a direct address to the poor.

The wherefore-questions make evident the injustices. These wherefore-questions are actually rhetorical questions, which will eventually culminate in the only possible solution: the rebellious attitude. Asking these kinds of questions compels the addressees to reconsider their situation and give an acceptable answer. The "just because" answer is obviously not suitable for this romantic poet, since he has been given that reply too many times. He wants a rational explanation and compels urgently the poor to provide it, but he will soon realise -and will make it evident- that there is not such a reason. Therefore, the only possible answer for that inequality must be their slovenliness in preserving their rights.

The association Shelley builds by means of the metaphor Bees of England supplies enough strength to the diminished low class to think and realise of their power as the driving force in the country. Without them, there would only be those ungrateful drones who are at the moment "draining their sweat and drink their blood".

As a conclusion, this political poem written in 1819 by the romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley provides the readers a faithful view of the social problems at that time. He is extremely critic with the society, not focussing only on the upper classes, but blaming the lower ones when he considers it is necessary. Shelley proves his personal political beliefs and supports the social revolutions as the French Revolution that took place between 1789 and 1799. He shows dissatisfaction with his country social status for the disparity in rights and classes and stares outside England's borders, looking for appropriate answers and active solutions.

Algernon Charles Swinburne was born in London on the 5th April 1837. He belongs to the Victorian era. His poetry was regarded as controversial in its day, containing recurring themes of sadomasochism, death-wish, lesbianism and irreligion.[6]

His poetic works includes: Atalanta in Calydon (1865), Poems and Ballads I (1866), Songs before Sunrise (1871), Poems and Ballads II, (1878) Tristram of Lyonesse (1882), Poems and Ballads III (1889), and the novel Lesbia Brandon (published posthumously). [6]

The Armada was written in 1888 and was published in Poems and Ballads III (1889).

The Armada consists of a series of long verses divided into long stanzas of irregular form. Since the length of the poem is about 24 pages in its original form, I have selected a  useful excerpt in order to show some clear examples on how Swinburne proves his political beliefs through his words. Some lines show rhyme and rhythm in the end, but it is not a constant pattern. Nevertheless, it is frequent to see internal stylistic features such as alliteration that provides cohesion to the text and interweaves ideas wittily. Thus, in II-II we find alliteration in /l/ and /f/, giving a clear example of the aforementioned feature:

       The pride that is love and the love that is faith, a perfume dissolved in flame

The Armada was written to commemorate the three-hundred anniversary of England's great victory over Spain [8]. Thus, we find a series of heroic deeds through the entire poem extolling the virtues and power of England not only over Spain but in the world. Swinburne identifies England with God and Christ, thus providing the victory over His/her competitors.

I am going to focus my analysis only in the passage I have selected, so that it is easier to exemplify and address the reader to the exact point.

In line 1 Swinburne mentions the narrow relationship between England -here personified- and the sea, which will lead soon afterward to the logical victory of England in the battle against the Spanish Armada.

From line 1 to line 4, the poet describes England as a female character which has been mother, daughter, beloved, reared, nursed and crowned. All these traits compose a pleasant and respectful atmosphere towards the country, clearly boasting about England's nature.

Lines 5 and 6 put the reader's attention on the past, implying that England's long-lasting history is praiseworthy.

Lines 7, 8 and 9 extol the respect England's enemies showed, frightening and not confronting her, somewhat recalling Old English literature such as Beowulf, feared and thus respected, respected and thus feared. In line 7 a hyperbolic structure is used to boast England's power:

Line 10 identifies the Godhead with the terrifying hell. All these who dare confront him are doomed to fail. Lines 11 and 12 relate England with her origins in the sea, which reinforces once again her superiority in battle. For a second time, a hyperbole is employed to intensify England's sea:

       the waters of England which tempest can tire not or tame

The rest of the excerpt (lines 13 to 24) is a praise of subject and warrior's valour and bravery, who are as much feared as the whole country can be:

       And the name of their might was Invincible (15)

All these hyperbolic traits bestow the necessary superiority over England to defeat any enemy country.

Swinburne was a lettered poet, maybe one of the most learned Victorian artists -therefore including poets, painters, playwrights, novelists, and so on- and had knowledge of the political situation in Europe, with special interest in the unification of the republic of Italy. Although he was considered one of the most critical poets at his time, in this particular composition he is praising England, making it noticeable in each single line. Nevertheless, criticism can be found when referring to the Church of that time, which could be regarded as a political feature, but since he constantly uses mythology and religious imagery all over his poetical work, it is sometimes difficult to differentiate criticism from literary usage. Victorian poets had that yearning for the past, wrapping it up with values that had disappeared long time ago, expecting to recover and apply them into a society that was changing too fast.

Through all the abovementioned, it is easy to trace a clear distinction between Shelley and Swinburne in terms of political discourse. Whereas Shelley's attitude is rebellious and is prone to fight back the social established status quo, Swinburne is rather more conservative in the sense of recalling the past heroic deeds to constitute a better present. That looking back to the past does not imply not being critical with the present; actually it would be pointless to look in the past if there was contentment with the current situation. I think Swinburne used in this poem all the strength his controversy offered to build up a glorious image of England. That glorious depiction of a country would differ so much in his current reality that just the reading of the poem would lead to a self-critic attitude from the reader. Consequently, the purpose of making a critical approach would not be directly made by the poet but by his contemporary readers.