The Masque of Anarchy - An argument for civil unrest.

Ye who suffer woes untold,
Or to feel, or to behold
Your lost country bought and sold
With a price of blood and gold.

Let a vast assembly be,
And with great solemnity
Declare with measured words that ye
Are, as God has made ye, free.

Let the charged artillery drive
Till the dead air seems alive
With the clash of clanging wheels,
And the tramp of horses' heels.

Stand ye calm and resolute,
Like a forest close and mute,
With folded arms and looks which are
Weapons of unvanquished war,

And that slaughter to the Nation
Shall steam up like inspiration,
Eloquent, oracular;
A volcano heard afar.



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

The Text is an edited selection taken from the poem The Mask of Anarchy by Percy Bysshe Shelley circ 1819 - Banned by the authorities for 30 years. It is a response to to the  Peterloo Massacre which happened in Manchester when the people protested and the authorities cracked down killing 18 people. Sound familiar?  The full text can be found here.

These blogs are in a series were I find evidence in the past that the oppression and corrruption people see today has always existed and has always been fought against. You are in good company to rise up. Vive la revolution.

Edited and copyright Zan Minsh
Images by various media

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