The poem is full of such description and figureS of speech. Shelley uses many violent images, such as the "leechlike" (l. 5) image of a king who sucks the blood out of his countrymen. The king is "blind in blood" (l. 6), the blood of his own people. If it was not enough that the king sucks the blood out of his countrymen, BUT he also HAS "starved and stabbed" (l. 7) them. All these images function together to describe a horrible king who ignores the needs of his people and sends them out to fight his war. [VERY GOOD] A fifth method that Shelley brings to bear is irony. The poem is very negative, and the whole atmosphere implies that the king would lead his country to total ruin. The irony in the poem is that the destruction of England leads to a new beginning with hope. Shelley ends his poem by saying that "Time's worst statute, unrepealed/ Are graves from which a glorious Phantom may/ Burst, to illumine our tempestuous day" (ll. 12-14). The positive idea of a new beginning is ironic because it is in such sharp contrast to the death and destruction presented earlier in the poem. [VERY GOOD] A sixth strategy that Shelley brings his attention to is listing. Already in the first line, five adjectives are listed to describe the king. To describe the king as "old, mad, blind, despised, and dying" (l. 1) is much stronger and more effective than describing him with only one adjective. Another example of listing is the description of the rulers as unable to "neither see nor feel" (l. 4). This use of listing effectively shows the rulers' lack of ability to understand their own people. [VERY GOOD] A seventh tool that Shelley exploits is repetition. For example, the theme of blindness is repeated three times. In the first line the king is described as "blind" (l. 1). Then, in the fourth line the "rulers" are unable to "see" (l. 4). Finally, in the sixth line the people have become "blind in blood" (l. 6). This repetition puts an emphasis...
