SPURS, AND A HUNTING-CAP, BUCKISHLY COCKED ON ONE SIDE, AND TUCKING UP by Percy Bysshe Shelley: Summary, Meaning & Analysis
This scene from Shelley's political drama *Swellfoot the Tyrant* is a wild and satirical hunting episode.
The poem
HER HAIR, SHE LEAPS NIMBLY ON HIS BACK]: Hoa! hoa! tallyho! tallyho! ho! ho! Come, let us hunt these ugly badgers down, These stinking foxes, these devouring otters, These hares, these wolves, these anything but men. Hey, for a whipper-in! my loyal Pigs Now let your noses be as keen as beagles’, _120 Your steps as swift as greyhounds’, and your cries More dulcet and symphonious than the bells Of village-towers, on sunshine holiday; Wake all the dewy woods with jangling music. Give them no law (are they not beasts of blood?) _125 But such as they gave you. Tallyho! ho! Through forest, furze, and bog, and den, and desert, Pursue the ugly beasts! tallyho! ho! FULL CHORUS OF IONA AND THE SWINE: Tallyho! tallyho! Through rain, hail, and snow, _130 Through brake, gorse, and briar, Through fen, flood, and mire, We go! we go! Tallyho! tallyho! Through pond, ditch, and slough, _135 Wind them, and find them, Like the Devil behind them, Tallyho! tallyho! [EXEUNT, IN FULL CRY; IONA DRIVING ON THE SWINE, WITH THE EMPTY GEEEN BAG.]
This scene from Shelley's political drama *Swellfoot the Tyrant* is a wild and satirical hunting episode. Here, a character named Iona rallies a crowd of "Swine" (the common folk) to hunt down corrupt rulers and their allies like prey. The twist is that the hunters were the ones treated like animals all along, and now they're flipping the script. It's loud, chaotic, and intentionally absurd — Shelley employs farce to convey a serious message about political revenge and the power of popular uprising.
Line-by-line
Hoa! hoa! tallyho! tallyho! ho! ho! / Come, let us hunt these ugly badgers down,
Hey, for a whipper-in! my loyal Pigs / Now let your noses be as keen as beagles',
Give them no law (are they not beasts of blood?) / But such as they gave you.
Tallyho! tallyho! / Through rain, hail, and snow,
Tallyho! tallyho! / Through pond, ditch, and slough,
Tone & mood
Raucous, carnivalesque, and wildly funny. Shelley delivers the entire scene at a shout — the exclamation marks stack up, the hunting cries echo like a drumbeat, and the energy stays at a gallop. Beneath the chaos, there’s genuine anger, but Shelley expresses it through farce instead of seriousness. The tone feels more like a political cartoon set to music than a serious protest poem.
Symbols & metaphors
- The Hunt — The fox hunt was a popular pastime for the English aristocracy, reflecting their power and control over the land and lower classes. By directing the hunt against the rulers, Shelley flips the entire social hierarchy with just one image.
- The Swine / Pigs — Edmund Burke's 1790 term 'swinish multitude' aimed to belittle ordinary people, suggesting they were unworthy of political power. Shelley takes this label and turns it into a symbol of pride and unity, reshaping an insult into a revolutionary identity.
- The Animals (badgers, foxes, otters, wolves) — Each animal represents a specific kind of corrupt political figure — predatory, verminous, or cowardly. By labeling them as 'anything but men,' Shelley suggests that it is the rulers, not the ruled, who have lost their humanity.
- The Empty Green Bag — A direct reference to the 'Green Bag' affair of 1820, where George IV's government used a sealed green bag of alleged evidence to justify actions against Queen Caroline. This bag became the subject of ridicule, seen as a tool for political persecution, and Shelley employs it here as the ridiculous weapon of a farcical tyrant.
- The Terrain (forest, furze, bog, fen, flood, mire) — The rough terrain the hunt navigates reflects the turmoil of political upheaval. It also indicates that seeking justice won't be easy or straightforward — it involves facing all kinds of challenges.
Historical context
This passage is from *Swellfoot the Tyrant* (1820), a short satirical drama by Shelley that responds to the trial of Queen Caroline, the estranged wife of King George IV. George IV sought to divorce Caroline through a Bill of Pains and Penalties, and the government's use of a sealed 'Green Bag' of evidence became a point of public mockery. Shelley wrote the play quickly, drawing inspiration from Aristophanes' *Plutus*, and published it anonymously. The play was suppressed almost right after it was released. In it, 'Swellfoot' represents George IV, 'Iona Taurina' stands for Queen Caroline, and the 'Swine' symbolize the British people. The excerpt presented here features the climactic moment when the oppressed masses rise against their oppressors. This play is often regarded alongside Shelley's *The Masque of Anarchy* as one of his most pointed works of political protest.
FAQ
It's an excerpt from *Swellfoot the Tyrant*, a short satirical play penned by Shelley in 1820. This piece isn't a standalone poem; rather, it features in the climactic scene where Iona Taurina, who symbolizes Queen Caroline, rallies the Swine (the people) to hunt down the corrupt rulers.
They represent everyday British citizens. The phrase 'swinish multitude' was coined by conservative thinker Edmund Burke to belittle the common people as unworthy of political involvement. Shelley intentionally reclaims this insult, transforming it into a symbol of collective strength.
It refers to a genuine political scandal. In 1820, George IV's government presented Parliament with a sealed green bag that allegedly held evidence of Queen Caroline's adultery, aiming to support a bill to take away her title. The bag turned into a symbol of political maneuvering and faced heavy ridicule in contemporary cartoons and pamphlets.
Fox hunting defined leisure for the English aristocracy — it symbolized their wealth, land ownership, and dominance over others. By targeting the rulers in his depiction of the hunt, Shelley turns the entire class structure on its head in a single image.
It's a call for reciprocal justice: treat the oppressors just as they treated you. Since the ruling class offered the people no legal protection or mercy, the people owe them none in return. This is the most straightforward political message in the passage.
Both happen simultaneously. The tone is intentionally exaggerated and boisterous—it feels almost like a comic opera chorus—but the underlying anger is genuine. Shelley wields absurdist humor like a weapon, much like political cartoonists. This comedic approach makes the critique more difficult to ignore.
The Society for the Suppression of Vice warned the publisher of possible legal action. The play openly criticized the reigning king and his government, which was risky business in 1820. Nearly the entire print run was destroyed.
It sits right alongside *The Masque of Anarchy* (1819), which Shelley wrote in response to the Peterloo Massacre, and *England in 1819*, a sonnet criticizing George III and his government. All three works emerged from the same wave of political outrage in 1819–1820, a time when Shelley believed Britain was teetering on the brink of either revolution or complete repression.