The Medal
The titular medal is used as the starting point of this critical poem. The author describes the medal, using its physical features as symbols standing in for the negative attributes of the offending party. The republican celebrants, who minted the medal, are compared to its golden gleam and worthless interior. While the medal in itself is not used again for the remaining six stanzas of the poem, the symbolism in the first stanza is so strong that any reader would be hard pressed to forget it.
Religious sects
The narrator often compares the republican movement, whose small victory is the main reason this poem was written, to a religious sect that follows its doctrine without thinking. This symbol hits hard, considering the strong religious tensions that were prevalent in Britain at the time. Not only the constant struggles between the Anglican and the Catholic faith were brooding but also the start of the deeper, stricter Puritan faith plays a role in the historical setting. Considering this background, the comparison of the republican movement to a sect not only disavows it from any credibility but also accuses it of moral bankruptcy.
The rivers Nile and Thames
The third stanza is focused on the distinction between the good parts of the country and the bad parts. Focussing on London only, the author uses the allegory of the ancient river Nile that fed the Egyptian kingdom. The river was, however, not only relevant for the survival of the Egyptians but also brought sickness and plague into the towns. This symbolism is transferred to the river Thames that flows through London and furthermore to an ethical river that corrupts certain parts of the town. Using strong language related to disease, the republican movement is deviled in its entirety.
The soul of England
Throughout the poem, while never mentioning it directly, the author is concerned for the very well-being of the country itself, describing the country as an entity as unwilling and clearly unable to withstand the building of an republic. The narrator is so strongly convinced that England is at its core a god given, absolute monarchy that any changes to that are pure evil.
The corruption of law
This motif is found in several sections within the poem. When one considers the historical reality which inspired the poem, the very powerful and even sometimes hate-filled usage of words is getting clearer. The poem was written in answer to the removal of a treason sentence against one of the leading republican heads. The poem compares the lawyers, judges and witnesses to invertebrates that live of squalor, in need of the bribery. While the poet himself had little power to change the sentence, the strong language in the poem could have served as a rallying call for the supporters of the crown.
