Masque of Anarchy, The by SHELLEY, Percy Bysshe

The Masque of Anarchy was Shelleys response to the Peterloo massacre at St Peters Fields, Manchester, where 18 died and hundreds were injured, after Hussars charged into a rally for parliamentary reform. Written in Italy in 1819, the poem was not published until 1832, ten years after Shelleys death. This reading is from the first published edition with the addition of three words that were inserted in full only in later additions (Eldon in Stanza IV and Bible and Sidmouth in Stanza VI). The poem is preceded by Leigh Hunts preface to the 1932 edition and followed by Harry Buxton Formans 1887 lecture on the poem to the Shelley Society. (Summary by Phil Benson)