COMMUNICATES ITSELF TO THOSE WITHIN. DURING THE FIRST STROPHE, THE by Percy Bysshe Shelley: Summary, Meaning & Analysis
This scene is from Shelley's satirical play *Swellfoot the Tyrant*, where pigs (symbolizing the British public) debate whether to shield their queen from a manipulated political trial.
The poem
DOORS OF THE STY ARE STAVED IN, AND A NUMBER OF EXCEEDINGLY LEAN PIGS AND SOWS AND BOARS RUSH IN.] SEMICHORUS 1: No! Yes! SEMICHORUS 2: Yes! No! SEMICHORUS 1: A law! SEMICHORUS 2: A flaw! SEMICHORUS 1: Porkers, we shall lose our wash, _115 Or must share it with the Lean-Pigs! FIRST BOAR: Order! order! be not rash! Was there ever such a scene, Pigs! AN OLD SOW (RUSHING IN): I never saw so fine a dash Since I first began to wean Pigs. _120 SECOND BOAR (SOLEMNLY): The Queen will be an angel time enough. I vote, in form of an amendment, that Purganax rub a little of that stuff Upon his face. PURGANAX [HIS HEART IS SEEN TO BEAT THROUGH HIS WAISTCOAT]: Gods! What would ye be at? SEMICHORUS 1: Purganax has plainly shown a _125 Cloven foot and jackdaw feather. SEMICHORUS 2: I vote Swellfoot and Iona Try the magic test together; Whenever royal spouses bicker, Both should try the magic liquor. _130 AN OLD BOAR [ASIDE]: A miserable state is that of Pigs, For if their drivers would tear caps and wigs, The Swine must bite each other’s ear therefore. AN OLD SOW [ASIDE]: A wretched lot Jove has assigned to Swine, Squabbling makes Pig-herds hungry, and they dine _135 On bacon, and whip Sucking-Pigs the more. CHORUS: Hog-wash has been ta’en away: If the Bull-Queen is divested, We shall be in every way Hunted, stripped, exposed, molested; _140 Let us do whate’er we may, That she shall not be arrested. QUEEN, we entrench you with walls of brawn, And palisades of tusks, sharp as a bayonet: Place your most sacred person here. We pawn _145 Our lives that none a finger dare to lay on it. Those who wrong you, wrong us; Those who hate you, hate us; Those who sting you, sting us; Those who bait you, bait us; _150 The ORACLE is now about to be Fulfilled by circumvolving destiny; Which says: ‘Thebes, choose REFORM or CIVIL WAR, When through your streets, instead of hare with dogs, A CONSORT QUEEN shall hunt a KING with Hogs, _155 Riding upon the IONIAN MINOTAUR.’ NOTE: _154 streets instead edition 1820. [ENTER IONA TAURINA.] IONA TAURINA (COMING FORWARD): Gentlemen Swine, and gentle Lady-Pigs, The tender heart of every Boar acquits Their QUEEN, of any act incongruous With native Piggishness, and she, reposing _160 With confidence upon the grunting nation, Has thrown herself, her cause, her life, her all, Her innocence, into their Hoggish arms; Nor has the expectation been deceived Of finding shelter there. Yet know, great Boars, _165 (For such whoever lives among you finds you, And so do I), the innocent are proud! I have accepted your protection only In compliment of your kind love and care, Not for necessity. The innocent _170 Are safest there where trials and dangers wait; Innocent Queens o’er white-hot ploughshares tread Unsinged, and ladies, Erin’s laureate sings it, Decked with rare gems, and beauty rarer still, Walked from Killarney to the Giant’s Causeway, _175 Through rebels, smugglers, troops of yeomanry, White-boys and Orange-boys, and constables, Tithe-proctors, and excise people, uninjured! Thus I!— Lord Purganax, I do commit myself _180 Into your custody, and am prepared To stand the test, whatever it may be! NOTE: (_173 ‘Rich and rare were the gems she wore.’ See Moore’s “Irish Melodies”.— [SHELLEY’S NOTE.]) PURGANAX: This magnanimity in your sacred Majesty Must please the Pigs. You cannot fail of being A heavenly angel. Smoke your bits of glass, _185 Ye loyal Swine, or her transfiguration Will blind your wondering eyes. AN OLD BOAR [ASIDE]: Take care, my Lord, They do not smoke you first. PURGANAX: At the approaching feast Of Famine, let the expiation be. SWINE: Content! content! IONA TAURINA [ASIDE]: I, most content of all, _190 Know that my foes even thus prepare their fall! [EXEUNT OMNES.] SCENE 2.2:
This scene is from Shelley's satirical play *Swellfoot the Tyrant*, where pigs (symbolizing the British public) debate whether to shield their queen from a manipulated political trial. The play subtly critiques King George IV's effort to divorce Queen Caroline in 1820, with each character — the pigs, the boars, and the queen — mirroring actual political figures. Through the turmoil of the barnyard, Shelley illustrates how everyday people become entangled in royal power struggles they never sought.
Line-by-line
SEMICHORUS 1: No! Yes! / SEMICHORUS 2: Yes! No!
A law! / A flaw!
Porkers, we shall lose our wash, / Or must share it with the Lean-Pigs!
FIRST BOAR: Order! order! be not rash! / Was there ever such a scene, Pigs!
AN OLD SOW (RUSHING IN): I never saw so fine a dash / Since I first began to wean Pigs.
SECOND BOAR (SOLEMNLY): The Queen will be an angel time enough. / I vote, in form of an amendment, that / Purganax rub a little of that stuff / Upon his face.
PURGANAX [HIS HEART IS SEEN TO BEAT THROUGH HIS WAISTCOAT]: Gods! What would ye be at?
SEMICHORUS 1: Purganax has plainly shown a / Cloven foot and jackdaw feather.
SEMICHORUS 2: I vote Swellfoot and Iona / Try the magic test together;
AN OLD BOAR [ASIDE]: A miserable state is that of Pigs, / For if their drivers would tear caps and wigs, / The Swine must bite each other's ear therefore.
AN OLD SOW [ASIDE]: A wretched lot Jove has assigned to Swine, / Squabbling makes Pig-herds hungry, and they dine / On bacon, and whip Sucking-Pigs the more.
CHORUS: Hog-wash has been ta'en away: / If the Bull-Queen is divested, / We shall be in every way / Hunted, stripped, exposed, molested;
QUEEN, we entrench you with walls of brawn, / And palisades of tusks, sharp as a bayonet:
Those who wrong you, wrong us; / Those who hate you, hate us;
The ORACLE is now about to be / Fulfilled by circumvolving destiny; / Which says: 'Thebes, choose REFORM or CIVIL WAR,
When through your streets, instead of hare with dogs, / A CONSORT QUEEN shall hunt a KING with Hogs, / Riding upon the IONIAN MINOTAUR.
IONA TAURINA: Gentlemen Swine, and gentle Lady-Pigs, / The tender heart of every Boar acquits / Their QUEEN, of any act incongruous / With native Piggishness,
Has thrown herself, her cause, her life, her all, / Her innocence, into their Hoggish arms;
Yet know, great Boars, / (For such whoever lives among you finds you, / And so do I), the innocent are proud!
Innocent Queens o'er white-hot ploughshares tread / Unsinged, and ladies, Erin's laureate sings it,
Decked with rare gems, and beauty rarer still, / Walked from Killarney to the Giant's Causeway, / Through rebels, smugglers, troops of yeomanry,
Thus I!— / Lord Purganax, I do commit myself / Into your custody, and am prepared / To stand the test, whatever it may be!
PURGANAX: This magnanimity in your sacred Majesty / Must please the Pigs. You cannot fail of being / A heavenly angel.
AN OLD BOAR [ASIDE]: Take care, my Lord, / They do not smoke you first.
PURGANAX: At the approaching feast / Of Famine, let the expiation be. / SWINE: Content! content!
IONA TAURINA [ASIDE]: I, most content of all, / Know that my foes even thus prepare their fall!
Tone & mood
The tone is playful and sharply satirical — like a political cartoon that has found its voice. Shelley uses broad comedy (pigs arguing about parliamentary rules, a minister's heart visibly thumping against his waistcoat) while allowing real anger and sorrow to peek through in the asides. The moments with the Old Boar and Old Sow have an almost tragic clarity. By the end, the tone shifts to something cooler and more menacing as Iona Taurina demonstrates she is several steps ahead of everyone.
Symbols & metaphors
- The Pigs / Swine — The British public — particularly the poor and working class. They are hungry, easily swayed, and capable of real unity, yet they often find themselves trapped between powerful figures who disregard their needs. Shelley's use of pigs is intentionally demeaning; he’s illustrating how the ruling class truly perceives ordinary people, not supporting that perspective.
- Hog-wash — The limited material welfare of the poor — their food and basic needs. When the pigs worry about losing their 'wash,' they're showing a genuine fear of poverty. The word also has its contemporary meaning of nonsense, which Shelley likely meant to add an extra layer of meaning.
- The Magic Potion / Test — The parliamentary investigation into Queen Caroline's conduct unfolds like a magic trial of fidelity, as Shelley suggests, revealing the arbitrary and theatrical nature of the legal process. The demand for Purganax and Swellfoot to take the test too captures the satirical essence of the scene.
- The Cloven Foot — The devil's mark, placed on Purganax, indicates that the government minister is not only corrupt but truly evil — more like a character from folklore destined for damnation than just a bad politician. Shelley opts for the most powerful image of moral decay.
- The Oracle / Prophecy — Shelley's political vision for Britain, presented in a classical style. The oracle's declaration — 'REFORM or CIVIL WAR' — conveys the central message of the play. By attributing this to a prophecy, Shelley gives it an air of inevitability rather than just a reasoned argument.
- The Feast of Famine — The oxymoron captures the plight of the poor with stark clarity: their significant public events take place amid their hunger. It's the most powerful representation of class injustice in this context.
Historical context
Shelley penned *Swellfoot the Tyrant* in 1820 as a reaction to the trial of Queen Caroline. George IV was trying to divorce her by pushing a bill through Parliament that would take away her title and dissolve their marriage on accusations of adultery. The trial sparked a huge public uproar—Caroline had significant popular backing, and many viewed the proceedings as a hypocritical assault from a king known for his own infidelities. At the time, Shelley was living in Italy and quickly wrote the play in just a few days. It was published anonymously in London but was pulled shortly after due to threats of prosecution from the Society for the Suppression of Vice. The play draws inspiration from Aristophanes' political comedies and employs an allegorical pig-world to critique George IV (Swellfoot), his ministers, and the entire establishment. It stands alongside *The Mask of Anarchy* as one of Shelley's most overtly political pieces.
FAQ
Swellfoot represents George IV; Iona Taurina symbolizes Queen Caroline (her name combines 'Ionian' with the Latin *taurina*, meaning bull-like, which relates to her surname Brunswick); Purganax stands for Lord Castlereagh, the Foreign Secretary responsible for the government's case against her. The Pigs represent the British public.
It represents the Bill of Pains and Penalties — the parliamentary process that George IV employed to attempt to prove Caroline's adultery and remove her title. Shelley presents it as a trial of magic fidelity, allowing him to make a clear argument: if the test is genuine, the King should participate as well.
Partly, this refers to a true event — a herd of pigs is said to have disturbed Shelley while he was writing near a pigsty in Pisa, inspiring his idea. However, pigs also allow him to illustrate the ruling class's perspective on ordinary people, and the barnyard setting serves to mock the absurdity of parliamentary procedures.
This is Shelley's heartfelt political belief: Britain in 1820 was reaching a breaking point, and without reforms from Parliament (like extending voting rights, tackling poverty, and ending corruption), a violent revolution was inevitable. He had expressed the same sentiment in *The Mask of Anarchy* following the Peterloo Massacre the previous year.
That's Thomas Moore, the Irish poet, known for his song 'Rich and Rare Were the Gems She Wore' from *Irish Melodies*, which depicts a woman safely traversing a perilous Ireland due to her innocence. Shelley includes a footnote about it. He employs this to support Iona's argument that innocence serves as its own shield — while also hinting at the genuine violence that Britain was perpetrating against Ireland.
It's a play — a satirical drama in verse, inspired by the comedies of ancient Greek playwright Aristophanes. This excerpt comes from Act II. The verse is playful and humorous rather than rigidly structured, fitting the chaotic barnyard environment perfectly.
It was published anonymously in London in 1820, but the Society for the Suppression of Vice quickly threatened legal action. As a result, the publisher pulled it from circulation. Only seven copies are known to have survived from that initial print run, and it didn't gain much readership until the twentieth century.
It's Purganax setting the trial for a time of widespread hunger — a twisted joke that makes a serious point. The poor are being asked to show up and agree to a political spectacle while they are starving. Their cheerful 'Content! content!' in reply is one of the darkest moments in the scene.