Quotes from work
The Masque of Anarchy

The Masque of Anarchy is a British political poem written in 1819 by Percy Bysshe Shelley following the Peterloo Massacre of that year. In his call for freedom, it is perhaps the first modern statement of the principle of nonviolent resistance.

“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!”

Percy Bysshe Shelley The Masque of Anarchy

St. 9
The Masque of Anarchy (1819)

“I met Murder on the way —
He had a mask like Castlereagh”

Percy Bysshe Shelley The Masque of Anarchy

Very smooth he looked, yet grim;
Seven blood-hounds followed him.
St. 2
The Masque of Anarchy (1819)

“What is Freedom?”

Percy Bysshe Shelley The Masque of Anarchy

ye can tell
That which slavery is, too well —
For its very name has grown
To an echo of your own.
St. 39
The Masque of Anarchy (1819)

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