Genre:

Poetry

Subjects:

Disease, Public Health, Class, Medical Treatment, Artisans

    Describes the spread of the 'Plague' across Britain. Notes that Britannia tried in vain to stop the 'pestilence' and that 'Medicine, helpless, groped and guessed, and tried all arts to save'. Britannia subsequently had a 'vision' which revealed Mammon-worship, the contrast between the 'palaces' and the places 'where wretches slunk to die', and the dire conditions experienced by artisans. Describes the spread of 'Death' across the country and notes 'Death's claim that 'my stronghold's still in every ditch and drain'.