HELL. by Percy Bysshe Shelley: Summary, Meaning & Analysis
Shelley examines early 19th-century London and essentially declares, "this place is already Hell." He highlights the corrupt politicians, greedy lawyers, hypocritical churchmen, and the suffering poor to illustrate that damnation isn't a punishment from God after death — it's something people create for themselves, right here and now.
The poem
1. Hell is a city much like London— A populous and a smoky city; There are all sorts of people undone, And there is little or no fun done; _150 Small justice shown, and still less pity. 2. There is a Castles, and a Canning, A Cobbett, and a Castlereagh; All sorts of caitiff corpses planning All sorts of cozening for trepanning _155 Corpses less corrupt than they. 3. There is a ***, who has lost His wits, or sold them, none knows which; He walks about a double ghost, And though as thin as Fraud almost— _160 Ever grows more grim and rich. 4. There is a Chancery Court; a King; A manufacturing mob; a set Of thieves who by themselves are sent Similar thieves to represent; _165 An army; and a public debt. 5. Which last is a scheme of paper money, And means—being interpreted— ‘Bees, keep your wax—give us the honey, And we will plant, while skies are sunny, _170 Flowers, which in winter serve instead.’ 6. There is a great talk of revolution— And a great chance of despotism— German soldiers—camps—confusion— Tumults—lotteries—rage—delusion— _175 Gin—suicide—and methodism; 7. Taxes too, on wine and bread, And meat, and beer, and tea, and cheese, From which those patriots pure are fed, Who gorge before they reel to bed _180 The tenfold essence of all these. 8. There are mincing women, mewing, (Like cats, who amant misere,) Of their own virtue, and pursuing Their gentler sisters to that ruin, _185 Without which—what were chastity?(2) 9. Lawyers—judges—old hobnobbers Are there—bailiffs—chancellors— Bishops—great and little robbers— Rhymesters—pamphleteers—stock-jobbers— _190 Men of glory in the wars,— 10. Things whose trade is, over ladies To lean, and flirt, and stare, and simper, Till all that is divine in woman Grows cruel, courteous, smooth, inhuman, _195 Crucified ’twixt a smile and whimper. 11. Thrusting, toiling, wailing, moiling, Frowning, preaching—such a riot! Each with never-ceasing labour, Whilst he thinks he cheats his neighbour, _200 Cheating his own heart of quiet. 12. And all these meet at levees;— Dinners convivial and political;— Suppers of epic poets;—teas, Where small talk dies in agonies;— _205 Breakfasts professional and critical; 13. Lunches and snacks so aldermanic That one would furnish forth ten dinners, Where reigns a Cretan-tongued panic, Lest news Russ, Dutch, or Alemannic _210 Should make some losers, and some winners— 45. At conversazioni—balls— Conventicles—and drawing-rooms— Courts of law—committees—calls Of a morning—clubs—book-stalls— _215 Churches—masquerades—and tombs. 15. And this is Hell—and in this smother All are damnable and damned; Each one damning, damns the other; They are damned by one another, _220 By none other are they damned. 16. ’Tis a lie to say, ‘God damns’! (1) Where was Heaven’s Attorney General When they first gave out such flams? Let there be an end of shams, _225 They are mines of poisonous mineral. 17. Statesmen damn themselves to be Cursed; and lawyers damn their souls To the auction of a fee; Churchmen damn themselves to see _230 God’s sweet love in burning coals. 18. The rich are damned, beyond all cure, To taunt, and starve, and trample on The weak and wretched; and the poor Damn their broken hearts to endure _235 Stripe on stripe, with groan on groan. 19. Sometimes the poor are damned indeed To take,—not means for being blessed,— But Cobbett’s snuff, revenge; that weed From which the worms that it doth feed _240 Squeeze less than they before possessed. 20. And some few, like we know who, Damned—but God alone knows why— To believe their minds are given To make this ugly Hell a Heaven; _245 In which faith they live and die. 21. Thus, as in a town, plague-stricken, Each man be he sound or no Must indifferently sicken; As when day begins to thicken, _250 None knows a pigeon from a crow,— 22. So good and bad, sane and mad, The oppressor and the oppressed; Those who weep to see what others Smile to inflict upon their brothers; _255 Lovers, haters, worst and best; 23. All are damned—they breathe an air, Thick, infected, joy-dispelling: Each pursues what seems most fair, Mining like moles, through mind, and there _260 Scoop palace-caverns vast, where Care In throned state is ever dwelling.
Shelley examines early 19th-century London and essentially declares, "this place is already Hell." He highlights the corrupt politicians, greedy lawyers, hypocritical churchmen, and the suffering poor to illustrate that damnation isn't a punishment from God after death — it's something people create for themselves, right here and now. The poem concludes with the image of everyone, both good and bad, inhaling the same toxic air and carving out their own underground palaces of misery.
Line-by-line
Hell is a city much like London— / A populous and a smoky city;
There is a Castles, and a Canning, / A Cobbett, and a Castlereagh;
There is a ***, who has lost / His wits, or sold them, none knows which;
There is a Chancery Court; a King; / A manufacturing mob; a set
Which last is a scheme of paper money, / And means—being interpreted—
There is a great talk of revolution— / And a great chance of despotism—
Taxes too, on wine and bread, / And meat, and beer, and tea, and cheese,
There are mincing women, mewing, / (Like cats, who amant misere,)
Lawyers—judges—old hobnobbers / Are there—bailiffs—chancellors—
Things whose trade is, over ladies / To lean, and flirt, and stare, and simper,
Thrusting, toiling, wailing, moiling, / Frowning, preaching—such a riot!
And all these meet at levees;— / Dinners convivial and political;—
At conversazioni—balls— / Conventicles—and drawing-rooms—
And this is Hell—and in this smother / All are damnable and damned;
'Tis a lie to say, 'God damns'! / Where was Heaven's Attorney General
Statesmen damn themselves to be / Cursed; and lawyers damn their souls
The rich are damned, beyond all cure, / To taunt, and starve, and trample on
Sometimes the poor are damned indeed / To take,—not means for being blessed,—
And some few, like we know who, / Damned—but God alone knows why—
Thus, as in a town, plague-stricken, / Each man be he sound or no
So good and bad, sane and mad, / The oppressor and the oppressed;
All are damned—they breathe an air, / Thick, infected, joy-dispelling:
Tone & mood
The tone is both furious and satirical, yet Shelley manages to keep it light enough to evoke laughter. He writes with the boldness of someone who feels he has nothing to lose—calling out names, mocking institutions directly, and maintaining a lively rhythm that transforms his anger into energy rather than bitterness. By the final stanzas, the humor fades, giving way to a tone that feels more like bleak pity: everyone is trapped, even those Shelley empathizes with.
Symbols & metaphors
- London as Hell — The main idea of the poem is clear: London isn't just compared to Hell — it *is* Hell. This shifts the religious notion of damnation, which typically occurs after death, into a political argument: the suffering and corruption we see in the city today is what truly matters.
- Smoke and thick air — The poem begins and ends with imagery of smoke and contaminated air, which literally refers to the coal pollution of industrial London. On a symbolic level, it reflects a moral climate that permeates everyone’s existence, regardless of choice — portraying corruption as an environmental condition rather than just a personal shortcoming.
- The honey and the bees — Shelley's fable about the national debt illustrates how bees (taxpayers) create honey (real wealth), which the beekeeper (the state) takes, all while promising flowers in winter that never come. This analogy transforms a complex financial concept into a clear and straightforward example of theft.
- The palace-cavern of Care — In the final stanza, each individual delves into their own thoughts and constructs a sprawling underground palace where 'Care' — anxiety, worry, ambition — reigns supreme. This serves as the poem's depiction of psychological Hell: the outside city has been internalized, and the true prison is the one people create within themselves.
- The plague — Used in stanzas 21–22 to suggest that Hell's corruption isn't just a punishment for personal sins but rather a contagion. A plague doesn't discriminate between the deserving and the undeserving. This shift in imagery transforms Shelley's argument from a moral focus to a structural one: the system infects everyone.
- Self-damnation — Each class — whether statesmen, lawyers, churchmen, the rich, or the poor — brings about its own downfall through its actions. There is no higher authority to judge. Shelley uses the term damnation to describe how individuals undermine their own ability to find happiness and justice while chasing power or mere survival.
Historical context
Shelley wrote this poem around 1819–1820, during one of the most politically charged times in British history. The Peterloo Massacre in August 1819—when cavalry charged a peaceful crowd of 60,000 demanding parliamentary reform, resulting in fifteen deaths—further radicalized public opinion. At that time, Shelley was living in Italy, exiled partly by choice and partly due to social scandal, and he was churning out a stream of political poetry: *The Mask of Anarchy*, *Ode to the West Wind*, and *Prometheus Unbound* all emerged during this period. "Hell" (also known as "Peter Bell the Third," from which this passage is taken) criticizes the Tory government of Lord Liverpool, the oppressive Six Acts, and the entire social structure of a nation that Shelley viewed as built on exploitation. His atheism, which led to his expulsion from Oxford in 1811, informs the poem's theological argument: damnation is not the work of God, but rather a consequence of human actions.
FAQ
It's a part of a longer satirical poem titled *Peter Bell the Third*, which was written in 1819 and published after the author's death. Shelley divided the poem into sections, with 'Hell' being the third part. While it can stand alone because its argument is complete, understanding that it's from a larger satirical piece helps clarify some of the dense references within it.
Viscount Castlereagh served as the British Foreign Secretary and played a significant role in shaping the conservative order in Europe after Napoleon — Shelley held a deep disdain for him. George Canning was another Tory and a political rival. William Cobbett, on the other hand, was a radical journalist and pamphleteer who fought for the rights of the poor and opposed the political establishment. By referring to all three as 'caitiff corpses,' Shelley implied that he viewed the entire political spectrum, from government officials to populist critics, as part of the same corrupt system.
Shelley was an atheist, and this forms the core of his theological argument in the poem. He dismisses the notion that God punishes sinners with Hell after death. Instead, he contends that damnation arises from the choices people make, both for themselves and others: statesmen opt for cruelty, lawyers compromise their integrity, and the wealthy choose to take advantage of the poor. The Hell of London is a product of human action, not a divine decree. This positions it as a political argument as well as a religious one — if people can create Hell, they also have the power to change it.
In stanza 20, he mentions 'some few, like we know who' — individuals who are 'damned' for believing they can transform this Hell into a Heaven. This likely reflects a self-portrait and possibly depicts his circle. They’re 'damned' because they’re caught in an impossible endeavor, yet Shelley’s tone is warm and even admiring. They are the only characters in the poem who die for a cause truly worth dying for. This moment represents the poem's closest approach to hope.
The British national debt grew significantly during the Napoleonic Wars. Shelley viewed government bonds and paper currency as tools for taking real wealth from everyday people and substituting it with mere promises. In stanza 5, his bee-and-honey fable illustrates this point clearly: the state takes what workers create and hands out financial instruments that enrich the wealthy while leaving the poor empty-handed.
This is a well-known quirk of the original publication of *Peter Bell the Third*. The poem came out after Shelley's death, and some editions have irregular numbering or printing errors. Most editors see it as either a typo or a playful joke by Shelley — given the poem's satirical nature, a randomly wrong stanza number adds to its chaotic energy.
It's Shelley's depiction of the psychological landscape of someone influenced by this society. He suggests that each person digs through their own mind like a mole, creating a deep underground space where 'Care' — representing anxiety, worry, and ambition — reigns like a monarch. The external Hell of London has become part of their inner experience. The true prison isn't the city itself; it's the impact the city has had on people's inner lives.
Not exactly. When he says 'all are damned,' he's making a structural argument rather than a moral one. The plague metaphor is crucial: a plague doesn't selectively punish the guilty; it spreads to everyone. The poor are condemned to suffer exploitation, while the rich are trapped in a cycle of perpetuating it. Shelley emphasizes that the rich actively 'taunt, and starve, and trample' the weak, while the poor 'endure stripe on stripe.' The system ensnares everyone, but it doesn't treat everyone equally.