Mask of Anarchy

Stand ye calm and resolute Like a forest close and mute With folded arms and looks which are Weapons of unvanquished war And if then the tyrants dare Let them ride among you there Slash and stab, maim and hew What they like, let them do Folded arms and steady eyes little fear, and less surprise Look upon them as they slay Till their rage has died away Rise like lions after slumber We are the many, they are few Shake your chains to earth like dew Never let them fall on you Then they will return with shame To the place from which they came And the blood they shed will speak In hot blushes on their cheek And these words shall then become Like Oppression's thundered doom Ringing through each heart and brain Heard again and again Rise, like lions after slumber Unvanquishable in their number Shaking chains to earth like dew Which in sleep had fallen on you What is Freedom? You can tell That which slavery is too well For its very name has grown into an echo of your own Tis to work and have such pay to keep life from day to day In your limbs, as in a cell For the tyrants' use to dwell Then it is to feel revenge Fiercely thirsting to exchange Blood for blood, and wrong for wrong Do not thus when ye are strong