The Mask of Anarchy (Masterplots II: Poetry, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Percy Bysshe Shelley
- First Published: 1832
- Type of Work: Ballad
- Genres: Poetry, Ballad
- Subjects: Freedom, Nineteenth century, Hope, England or English people, Politicians, Government, Reformers, Hypocrisy, Massacres, Fraud, Anarchism or anarchists, Tyrants or tyranny
The Poem
The Mask of Anarchy, a ballad of ninety-one stanzas, was inspired by the “Peterloo Massacre” in Manchester, England. On August 16, 1819, several thousand people gathered in St. Peter’s Fields to hear the orator Henry Hunt speak in favor of reform in the English government. The assembly was broken up violently by militia and cavalry, who attempted to arrest Hunt. At least ten people were killed and hundreds injured.
The first stanza tells how news of the massacre led the sleeping Percy Bysshe Shelley “To walk in the visions of Poesy”; the images...
[The entire page is 1597 words long]
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