Song to the Men of England by Percy Bysshe Shelley IGCSE

Which historical event was the immediate inspiration for this poem?

• The Storming of the Bastille during the French Revolution

• The Boston Tea Party in the American Revolution

• The arrest of Toussaint Louverture during the Haitian Revolution

• The Peterloo Massacre in Manchester, England

When Shelley addresses the 'men of England' who should we take this to be?

• The Kings and Lords of England

• The ordinary working men of England

• Supporters of the English Football Team

• His fellow students at Oxford University

Which phrase from the poem uses an image to suggest that the rich people of England (bosses, lords, landlords, the King) are like vampires taking life from the ordinary people?

• Drain your sweat - nay drink your blood?

• The seed ye sow, another reaps

• Shrink to your cellars, holes and cells

• The rich robes your tyrants wear

Which repeated word in the poem means 'Why' and asks the readers to think about why people allow injustice and inequality to continue?

• Stingless

• Wherefore

• Drones

• Tyrants

Which technique does Shelley use seven times in the poem to show that he thinks there is no good reason for the working men to be treated so badly?

• Tricolon

• Metaphor

• Alliteration

• Rhetorical question

What do the words 'plough', 'low', 'care' and 'wear' all have in common?

• All nouns to describe things the workers used

• All verbs to suggest work that others benefit from

• All adjectives which emphasise harsh conditions

• All adverbs which intensify the verbs

What creatures does Shelley compare the men to to suggest that they work very hard while others do nothing and live off their labour?

• Ants

• Bees

• Flies

• Spiders

Who or what are the 'stingless drones' that live off of the efforts of the workers/bees?

• Early flying machines

• The queen bee and helpers

• The rich aristocracy who live of others but cannot defend themselves

• The factory workers themselves

In the following lines, what does the use of parallelism suggest?

"The seed ye sow, another reaps;

The wealth ye find, another keeps;

The robes ye weave, another wears;

The arms ye forge, another bears."

• That the working men of England are extremely hard working

• That the efforts and labour of the English men is for other people, not themselves (they are exploited)

• That the hard work of the men is a natural and inevitable aspect of life

• That the men should work harder so they can get a better life and achieve their dreams

What image does Shelley suggest is happening if they do not rebel in the closing lines of the poem?

• That things will probably get better over time

• That they are already essentially dead

• That their protests will inevitably be crushed

• That they should pray to God for a better life