#title The Masque of Anarchy #author Percy Bysshe Shelley #SORTtopics pacifism, pacifist, revolution, poetry #date 1832 #source https://archive.org/details/masqueanarchyap00huntgoog/page/n5 #lang en **1** As I lay asleep in Italy There came a voice from over the Sea, And with great power it forth led me To walk in the visions of Poesy. **2** I met Murder on the way-- He had a mask like Castlereagh-- Very smooth he looked, yet grim; Seven blood-hounds followed him: **3** All were fat; and well they might Be in admirable plight, For one by one, and two by two, He tossed them human hearts to chew **4** Which from his wide cloak he drew. Next came Fraud, and he had on, Like Eldon, an ermined gown; His big tears, for he wept well, Turned to mill-stones as they fell. **5** And the little children, who Round his feet played to and fro, Thinking every tear a gem, Had their brains knocked out by them. **6** Clothed with the Bible, as with light, And the shadows of the night, Like Sidmouth, next, Hypocrisy On a crocodile rode by. **7** And many more Destructions played In this ghastly masquerade, All disguised, even to the eyes, Like Bishops, lawyers, peers, or spies. **8** Last came Anarchy: he rode On a white horse, splashed with blood; He was pale even to the lips, Like Death in the Apocalypse. **9** And he wore a kingly crown; And in his grasp a sceptre shone; On his brow this mark I saw-- 'I AM GOD, AND KING, AND LAW!' **10** With a pace stately and fast, Over English land he passed, Trampling to a mire of blood The adoring multitude. **11** And a mighty troop around, With their trampling shook the ground, Waving each a bloody sword, For the service of their Lord. **12** And with glorious triumph, they Rode through England proud and gay, Drunk as with intoxication Of the wine of desolation. **13** O'er fields and towns, from sea to sea, Passed the Pageant swift and free, Tearing up, and trampling down; Till they came to London town. **14** And each dweller, panic-stricken, Felt his heart with terror sicken Hearing the tempestuous cry Of the triumph of Anarchy. **15** For with pomp to meet him came, Clothed in arms like blood and flame, The hired murderers, who did sing `Thou art God, and Law, and King. **16** We have waited, weak and lone For thy coming, Mighty One! Our purses are empty, our swords are cold, Give us glory, and blood, and gold.' **17** Lawyers and priests, a motley crowd, To the earth their pale brows bowed; Like a bad prayer not over loud, Whispering -- `Thou art Law and God.' -- **18** Then all cried with one accord, `Thou art King, and God, and Lord; Anarchy, to thee we bow, Be thy name made holy now!' **19** And Anarchy, the Skeleton, Bowed and grinned to every one, As well as if his education Had cost ten millions to the nation. **20** For he knew the Palaces Of our Kings were rightly his; His the sceptre, crown, and globe, And the gold-inwoven robe. **21** So he sent his slaves before To seize upon the Bank and Tower, And was proceeding with intent To meet his pensioned Parliament **22** When one fled past, a maniac maid, And her name was Hope, she said: But she looked more like Despair, And she cried out in the air: **23** `My father Time is weak and gray With waiting for a better day; See how idiot-like he stands, Fumbling with his palsied hands! **24** `He has had child after child, And the dust of death is piled Over every one but me-- Misery, oh, Misery!' **25** Then she lay down in the street, Right before the horses' feet, Expecting, with a patient eye, Murder, Fraud, and Anarchy. **26** When between her and her foes A mist, a light, an image rose, Small at first, and weak, and frail Like the vapour of a vale: **27** Till as clouds grow on the blast, Like tower-crowned giants striding fast, And glare with lightnings as they fly, And speak in thunder to the sky, **28** It grew -- a Shape arrayed in mail Brighter than the viper's scale, And upborne on wings whose grain Was as the light of sunny rain. **29** On its helm, seen far away, A planet, like the Morning's, lay; And those plumes its light rained through Like a shower of crimson dew. **30** With step as soft as wind it passed O'er the heads of men -- so fast That they knew the presence there, And looked, -- but all was empty air. **31** As flowers beneath May's footstep waken, As stars from Night's loose hair are shaken, As waves arise when loud winds call, Thoughts sprung where'er that step did fall. **32** And the prostrate multitude Looked -- and ankle-deep in blood, Hope, that maiden most serene, Was walking with a quiet mien: **33** And Anarchy, the ghastly birth, Lay dead earth upon the earth; The Horse of Death tameless as wind Fled, and with his hoofs did grind To dust the murderers thronged behind. **34** A rushing light of clouds and splendour, A sense awakening and yet tender Was heard and felt -- and at its close These words of joy and fear arose **35** As if their own indignant Earth Which gave the sons of England birth Had felt their blood upon her brow, And shuddering with a mother's throe **36** Had turnèd every drop of blood By which her face had been bedewed To an accent unwithstood,-- As if her heart had cried aloud: **37** `Men of England, heirs of Glory, Heroes of unwritten story, Nurslings of one mighty Mother, Hopes of her, and one another; **38** `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. **39** `What is Freedom? -- ye can tell That which slavery is, too well -- For its very name has grown To an echo of your own.< **40** `'Tis to work and have such pay As just keeps life from day to day In your limbs, as in a cell For the tyrants' use to dwell, **41** `So that ye for them are made Loom, and plough, and sword, and spade, With or without your own will bent To their defence and nourishment. **42** `'Tis to see your children weak With their mothers pine and peak, When the winter winds are bleak,-- They are dying whilst I speak. **43** `'Tis to hunger for such diet As the rich man in his riot Casts to the fat dogs that lie Surfeiting beneath his eye; **44** `'Tis to let the Ghost of Gold Take from Toil a thousandfold More than e'er its substance could In the tyrannies of old. **45** `Paper coin -- that forgery Of the title-deeds, which ye Hold to something of the worth Of the inheritance of Earth. **46** `'Tis to be a slave in soul And to hold no strong control Over your own wills, but be All that others make of ye. **47** `And at length when ye complain With a murmur weak and vain 'Tis to see the Tyrant's crew Ride over your wives and you-- Blood is on the grass like dew. **48** `Then it is to feel revenge Fiercely thirsting to exchange Blood for blood -- and wrong for wrong -- Do not thus when ye are strong. **49** `Birds find rest, in narrow nest When weary of their wingèd quest; Beasts find fare, in woody lair When storm and snow are in the air,[1] **50** `Asses, swine, have litter spread And with fitting food are fed; All things have a home but one-- Thou, Oh, Englishman, hast none! **51** `This is Slavery -- savage men, Or wild beasts within a den Would endure not as ye do-- But such ills they never knew. **52** `What art thou Freedom? O! could slaves Answer from their living graves This demand -- tyrants would flee Like a dream's dim imagery: **53** `Thou art not, as impostors say, A shadow soon to pass away, A superstition, and a name Echoing from the cave of Fame. **54** `For the labourer thou art bread, And a comely table spread From his daily labour come In a neat and happy home. **55** `Thou art clothes, and fire, and food For the trampled multitude-- No -- in countries that are free Such starvation cannot be As in England now we see. **56** `To the rich thou art a check, When his foot is on the neck Of his victim, thou dost make That he treads upon a snake. **57** `Thou art Justice -- ne'er for gold May thy righteous laws be sold As laws are in England -- thou Shield'st alike the high and low. **58** `Thou art Wisdom -- Freemen never Dream that God will damn for ever All who think those things untrue Of which Priests make such ado. **59** `Thou art Peace -- never by thee Would blood and treasure wasted be As tyrants wasted them, when all Leagued to quench thy flame in Gaul. **60** `What if English toil and blood Was poured forth, even as a flood? It availed, Oh, Liberty, To dim, but not extinguish thee. **61** `Thou art Love -- the rich have kissed Thy feet, and like him following Christ, Give their substance to the free And through the rough world follow thee, **62** `Or turn their wealth to arms, and make War for thy belovèd sake On wealth, and war, and fraud--whence they Drew the power which is their prey. **63** `Science, Poetry, and Thought Are thy lamps; they make the lot Of the dwellers in a cot So serene, they curse it not. **64** `Spirit, Patience, Gentleness, All that can adorn and bless Art thou -- let deeds, not words, express Thine exceeding loveliness. **65** `Let a great Assembly be Of the fearless and the free On some spot of English ground Where the plains stretch wide around. **66** `Let the blue sky overhead, The green earth on which ye tread, All that must eternal be Witness the solemnity. **67** `From the corners uttermost Of the bonds of English coast; From every hut, village, and town Where those who live and suffer moan For others' misery or their own.[2] **68** `From the workhouse and the prison Where pale as corpses newly risen, Women, children, young and old Groan for pain, and weep for cold-- **69** `From the haunts of daily life Where is waged the daily strife With common wants and common cares Which sows the human heart with tares-- **70** `Lastly from the palaces Where the murmur of distress Echoes, like the distant sound Of a wind alive around **71** `Those prison halls of wealth and fashion, Where some few feel such compassion For those who groan, and toil, and wail As must make their brethren pale-- **72** `Ye who suffer woes untold, Or to feel, or to behold Your lost country bought and sold With a price of blood and gold-- **73** `Let a vast assembly be, And with great solemnity Declare with measured words that ye Are, as God has made ye, free-- **74** `Be your strong and simple words Keen to wound as sharpened swords, And wide as targes let them be, With their shade to cover ye. **75** `Let the tyrants pour around With a quick and startling sound, Like the loosening of a sea, Troops of armed emblazonry. **76** `Let the charged artillery drive Till the dead air seems alive With the clash of clanging wheels, And the tramp of horses' heels. **77** `Let the fixèd bayonet Gleam with sharp desire to wet Its bright point in English blood Looking keen as one for food. **78** `Let the horsemen's scimitars Wheel and flash, like sphereless stars Thirsting to eclipse their burning In a sea of death and mourning. **79** `Stand ye calm and resolute, Like a forest close and mute, With folded arms and looks which are Weapons of unvanquished war, **80** `And let Panic, who outspeeds The career of armèd steeds Pass, a disregarded shade Through your phalanx undismayed. **81** `Let the laws of your own land, Good or ill, between ye stand Hand to hand, and foot to foot, Arbiters of the dispute, **82** `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! **83** `On those who first should violate Such sacred heralds in their state Rest the blood that must ensue, And it will not rest on you. **84** `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. **85** `With folded arms and steady eyes, And little fear, and less surprise, Look upon them as they slay Till their rage has died away. **86** `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. **87** `Every woman in the land Will point at them as they stand-- They will hardly dare to greet Their acquaintance in the street. **88** `And the bold, true warriors Who have hugged Danger in wars Will turn to those who would be free, Ashamed of such base company. **89** `And that slaughter to the Nation Shall steam up like inspiration, Eloquent, oracular; A volcano heard afar. **90** `And these words shall then become Like Oppression's thundered doom Ringing through each heart and brain, Heard again -- again -- again-- **91** `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.' [1] 'Horses, oxen, have a home, When from daily toil they come; Household dogs, when the wind roars, Find a home within warm doors.' [2] 'From the cities where from caves, Like the dead from putrid graves, Troops of starvelings gliding come, Living Tenants of a tomb.'