Poetic Device: Metonymy

James Shirley’s Use of Metonymy

In James Shirley’s poem “The Glories of our Blood and State”, the speaker exemplifies his belief that, although one can be glorious during his or her life, fate will inevitably take control and lead to death, in which, the speaker believes, all men are equaled. The speaker uses a metonymy, representing the powerful ruling class as “scepter and crown” while using the words “scythe and spade” to represent the lower, impoverished class. He thus replaces individuals with objects that can be associated with these individuals, removing all sense of identity. By doing this, the speaker emphasizes the point that once men are dead they no longer have an identity and thus, no matter what they were in their lifetime, in death all men account to nothing. While this metonymy is used at the beginning of the poem, at the end of the poem, the speaker does not use a metonymy when describing the people that are distinguished in death- the “just”. By not replacing these people with an associated entity the speaker retains their identity, emphasizing his notion that only good people are illustrious in death.

By Danni Greig