Скачать или смотреть The Mask of Anarchy (Percy Bysshe Shelley)

The Mask of Anarchy
Poem by Percy Bysse Shelley, 1819

Percy Bysshe Shelley wrote this poem in response to the Peterloo Massacre that occurred earlier in the year of its writing. In 1819 a movement for political reform arose in England in response to economic hardship caused by war, famine, and political malfeasance in the preceding years. The movement advocated for greater representation for the people and reform of various laws relating to the economy, and to this end they held numerous rallies to plead their case. On August 16, 1819, a large rally in Manchester at St. Peter's Field was violently dispersed by the authorities, resulting in 18 deaths among the crowd. Stirred by news of this event, Shelley wrote this epic poem in commemoration of the protesters and in sympathy with their cause. The memorable closing lines of the poem, "You are many - they are few", has been quoted and repurposed by many subsequent reform movements.

Text Source: https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Ma...