and situation on the farm, the entire poem is ironic. Firstly, Napoleon is not at all a 'friend of the fatherless' or a 'Fountain of happiness' since the animals, in general, are hungry, miserable and tired. Their lives are laborious and short.

His reference to Napoleon being the 'Lord of the swill bucket' is apter than he assumed it would be, on many different levels. A swill bucket refers to trash, kitchen leftovers and is also known as hogwash or rubbish - food fit only for a pig. In effect, he is stating that Napoleon is the lord of garbage, which in the current situation is true because of Napoleon's corruption and tyranny. The dream which all the animals had believed in has become absolutely worthless. Most of the animals have not benefited at all. The only ones who did are the pigs and Napoleon's cronies, such as the dogs.  

The fact that Minimus further states that 'my soul is on fire' expresses more irony since the passion that the animals felt before, during and shortly after the revolution, has completely died. They are tired, cold and hungry. The only passion left is that of the pigs, fueled by their greed and arrogance. One can only hope that the general animal public could once again feel the fire in their souls to rid themselves of their greedy and corrupt leader, but, alas, they have given in to fear, servility and indifference brought about by Napoleon's ruthless oppression.   

Napoleon is hardly calm since he is forever watching out for imagined enemies and has become quite paranoid. His command is anything but good, for whatever he orders is to further suppress the animals and ensure more privileges for himself and the other pigs.   

The second stanza is deeply mocking as well since Napoleon gives to none other than himself and his acolytes, whilst the other animals have to make do with the scraps. Their rations are limited and they sleep in the same place they did under Jones' rule. The pigs, in contrast, comfortably sleep in the house, on beds. The general animal populace hardly has full bellies twice a day. They cannot even remember when last they were not hungry.  

The last stanza is damning in its content since the reference is to pigs only. The implication is clear: all the other animals are not worthy enough to deserve a reference or even a slight mention. The greater irony is that they have to be faced with this inscription every day since it has been painted on the wall of the big barn.  

Throughout the poem, Napoleon is referred to as some kind of a deity, when one of the tenets of Animalism was that 'All animals are equal.' This last vestige of hope for the other animals is also eventually removed when the pigs start walking on their hind legs and the commandment is replaced by the bold and completely nonsensical statement that 'All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others.'   

Without realising it, Minimus' poem actually ridiculed his leader, but only we, the readers, maybe Benjamin the donkey and the other pigs realise that since the other animals are either too unintelligent, exhausted, afraid or hungry to really be bothered. 

Minimus represents the artists who sold out on their distinctive talent and individual expression to become cooopted by the state or the government.  In this, Minimus' song can be seen as a praising of Napoleon in all his forms.  The song replaces "Beasts of England" because it makes Napoleon the center and focus of all life on the farm.  The entire song is a form of propaganda that praises Napoleon and makes him the center of all attention.  Consider this set of lyrics:

Oh, how my soul is on
Fire when I gaze at thy
Calm and commanding eye,

This particular set of lyrics means that the power that Napoleon holds over the individual can be seen as an inspirational one, representing the reason why the speaker's soul is "on fire."  At the sight of Napoleon's "calm and commanding eye," some level of inspiration or galvanizing into action is obtained.  In these lyrics, Napoleon is seen as an almost God- like figure in its praise.  Another example of this can be seen later in the song:

Had I a sucking-pig,
Ere he had grown as big
Even as a pint bottle or as a rolling-pin,
He should have learned to be
Faithful and true to thee,

This particular set of lyrics makes the argument that Napoleon is the template by which future generations should gear their actions.  For example, the idea of young people needing to "learn" to be "faithful and true" to Napoleon brings to light how the leader is an example for future generations.  In this, Napoleon is glorified as a vision for the future, something that makes a bit of sense seeing that Napoleon has sired the new generation of boars on the farm.