English

The Masque of Anarchy

The Masque of Anarchy was Shelley's response to the Peterloo massacre at St Peter's 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 Shelley's 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 Hunt's preface to the 1832 edition and followed by Harry Buxton Forman's 1887 lecture on the poem to the Shelley Society. (Summary by Phil Benson) LibriVox recording of The Masque of Anarchy, by Percy Bysshe Shelley, with preface by Leigh Hunt, and lecture by Harry Buxton Forman. Read by Phil Benson. For further information, including links to online text, reader information, RSS feeds, CD cover or other formats (if available), please go to the LibriVox catalog page for this recording. For more free audio books or to become a volunteer reader, visit LibriVox.org . Download M4B (40MB)

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