THE MASK OF ANARCHY
WRITTEN ON THE OCCASION OF THE MASSACRE AT MANCHESTER
[Composed at the Villa Valsovano near Leghorn—or possibly later, during Shelley's sojourn at Florence—in the autumn of 1819, shortly after the Peterloo riot at Manchester, August 16; edited with Preface by Leigh Hunt, and published under the poet's name by Edward Moxon, 1832 (Bradbury & Evans, printers). Two MSS. are extant: a transcript by Mrs. Shelley with Shelley's autograph corrections, known as the 'Hunt MS.'; and an earlier draft, not quite complete, in the poet's handwriting, presented by Mrs. Shelley to (Sir) John Bowling in 1826, and now in the possession of Mr. Thomas J. Wise (the 'Wise MS.'). Mrs. Shelley's copy was sent to Leigh Hunt in 1819 with a view to its publication in The Examiner; hence the name 'Hunt MS.' A facsimile of the Wise MS. was published by the Shelley Society in 1887. Sources of the text are (1) the Hunt MS.; (2) the Wise MS.; (3) the editio princeps, ed. Leigh Hunt, 1832; (4) Mrs. Shelley's two edd. (Poetical Works) of 1839. Of the two MSS. Mrs. Shelley's transcript is the later and more authoritative.]
i
There came a voice from over the Sea,
And with great power it forth led me
To walk in the visions of Poesy.
ii
He had a mask like Castlereagh—
Very smooth he looked, yet grim;
Seven blood-hounds followed him:
iii
Be in admirable plight, 10
For one by one, and two by two,
He tossed them human hearts to chew
Which from his wide cloak he drew.
iv
Like Eldon, an ermined gown; [1] 15
His big tears, for he wept well.
Turned to mill-stones as they fell.
v
Round his feet played to and fro,
Thinking every tear a gem, 20
Had their brains knocked out by them.
vi
And the shadows of the night, [2]
Like Sidmouth, next, Hypocrisy
On a crocodile rode by. 25
vii
In this ghastly masquerade,
All disguised, even to the eyes,
Like Bishops, lawyers, peers, or spies. [3]
viii
On a white horse, splashed with blood;
He was pale even to the lips,
Like Death in the Apocalypse.
ix
And in his grasp a sceptre shone; [4] 35
On his brow this mark I saw— [5]
'I am God, and King, and Law!'