Poetry · Chapter
After Tennyson explained
The narrator reflects on the corruption and decay of society, where honor is dead, law is despised, and crime is rampant.
What happens
The narrator reflects on the corruption and decay of society, where honor is dead, law is despised, and crime is rampant. He expresses a desire to escape to Alaska if justice ever prevails, sarcastically noting he would run for office in the North.
Themes in this chapter
Hypocrisy and Corruption
The chapter condemns the hypocrisy of a land where freemen kill in debate, judges come to blows, and monopolies ensnare the people.
Political Satire
The narrator satirizes the political system, including party violence, bought justice, and the cycle of corrupt presidents.
Characters to notice
- Unknown
The speaker who laments the state of the land and contemplates escape.
Key passages
“You ask me why, though ill at ease, Within this region I subsist, Where honor’s dead, and law is hissed, And all men pillage as they please.”
You wonder why I stay in this place where honor is gone, law is scorned, and everyone steals freely.
The narrator explains his uneasy residence in a corrupt society.
“A land of base expedient; A land where gold can justice drown; Where Freedom’s chains are handed down From President to President.”
This is a country of cheap shortcuts, where money overwhelms justice, and each president passes on the shackles of freedom.
Critique of political and judicial corruption perpetuated by successive leaders.
“Should honor e’er possess the land, And patriots control the State, And Justice rise, divine with hate, To choke the politician band, O waft me from the harbor forth. Wild winds. I’ll see Alaska’s sky. Here ’twill have grown too warm, and I Will run for office in the North.”
If honor and patriots ever take over, and justice strangles the politicians, then carry me away on wild winds to Alaska. It will be too hot here, and I'll run for office up north.
The narrator sarcastically suggests he would flee to Alaska if justice ever prevailed, implying he would then become a politician himself.