General introduction
The Peterloo Massacre of August, 1819
[E1]
[ES1]
[F1]
[I1]
left a great impression all over Britain and raised a wave of protests against the authoritarian regime of King George III (cf. also Byron’s
The Vision of Judgement)
.
Being a radical and a supporter of social and political outcasts, Shelley felt a deep concern about the lack of freedom and the use of brute violence as a means of controlling dissense that had become the norm in post-napoleonic Europe.
The Masque of Anarchy shows a disquieting picture of a crudely conservative, but politically impaired aristocracy being finally challenged by the strength of solidarity and social equality.
The poem is a long allegoric ballad that describes the defeat of Murder, Hypocrisy and Fraud , three fierce horsemen that torment the English people, by the hand of the maiden Hope. Her final speech to the gathered crowd is a powerful call to civil disobedience and non-violent resistance.
Read the text
LXXIII
Let a vast assembly be,
And with great solemnity
Declare with measured words that ye
Are, as God has made ye, free -'
LXXIV
Be your strong and simple words
Keen to wound as sharpened swords,
And wide as targets let them be,
With their shade to cover ye.'
LXXV
Let the tyrants pour around
With a quick and startling sound,
Like the loosening of a sea,
Troops of armed emblazonry.'
LXXVI
Let the charged artillery drive
Till the dead air seems alive
With the clash of clanging wheels,
And the tramp of horses' heels.'
LXXVII
Let the fixed bayonet
Gleam with sharp desire to wet
Its bright point in English blood
Looking keen as one for food.'
LXXVIII
Let the horsemen's scimitars
Wheel and flash, like sphereless stars
Thirsting to eclipse their burning
In a sea of death and mourning.'
LXXIX
Stand ye calm and resolute,
Like a forest close and mute,
With folded arms and looks which are
Weapons of unvanquished war,
LXXX
And let Panic, who outspeeds
The career of armed steeds
Pass a disregarded shade
Through your phalanx undismayed.'
LXXXI
Let the laws of your own land,
Good or ill, between ye stand
Hand to hand, and foot to foot,
Arbiters of the dispute,'
LXXXII
The old laws of England - they
Whose reverend heads with age are gray,
Children of a wiser day;
And whose solemn voice must be
Thine own echo - Liberty!'
LXXXIII
On those who first should violate
Such sacred heralds in their state
Slash the blood that must ensue,
And it will not rest on you.'
LXXXIV
And if then the tyrants dare
Let them ride among you there,
Slash, and stab, and maim, and hew,
-
What they like, that let them do.'
LXXXV
With folded arms and steady eyes,
And little fear, and less surprise,
Look upon them as they slay
Till their rage has died away.'
LXXXVI
Then they will return with shame
To the place from which they came,
And the blood thus shed will speak
In hot blushes on their cheek.'
LXXXVII
Every woman in the land
Will point at them as they stand
They will hardly dare to greet
Their acquaintance in the street.'
LXXXVIII
And the bold, true warriors
Who have hugged Danger in wars
Will turn to those who would be free,
Ashamed of such base company.'
LXXXIX
And that slaughter to the Nation
Shall steam up like inspiration,
Eloquent, oracular;
A volcano heard afar.'
XC
And these words shall then become
Like Oppression's thundered doom
Ringing through each heart and brain,
Heard again - again - again -'
XCI
Rise like Lions after slumber
In unvanquishable number -
Shake your chains to earth like dew
Which in sleep had fallen on you -
Ye are many - they are few.'
ACTIIVITIES
Comprehension and interpretation:
Go through the text and work out the following points:
- Who is speaking, and to whom?
- Who do you think the “tyrants” are, whose “troops of armed emblazonry” torment the gathered crowd (stanza LXXV and following)?
- How should the people react to the violent attacks of the “armed steeds” (stanza LXXX and following)?
- What would be the consequences of their resistance? How would the oppressors react?
