The Mask of Anarchy
P B Shelley’s manuscript of ‘The Mask of Anarchy’, 1819, was a reaction and protest against the Peterloo Massacre. It is a political poem, and praises the non-violence of the Manchester protesters when faced with the aggression of the state troopers.
I met Murder on the way -
He had a mask like Castlereagh -
Very smooth he looked, yet grim;
Seven blood-hounds followed him
The title of Shelley’s poem refers both to a dramatic pageant (like the masques that monarchs staged to celebrate their power) and an organised deception (the ‘masquerade’ of those who conspire together to rule the country).
Peterloo Massacre vintage depiction
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