Here is a very abridged version of the famous ballad poem by Percy Bysshe Shelley, written on the occasion of the Peterloo Massacre, Manchester 1819.
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, and maim and hew;
What they like, that let them do.
~~~
With folded arms and steady eyes,
And little fear, and less surprise,
Look upon them as they slay,
Till their rage has died away:
~~~
Then they will return with shame,
To the place from which they came,
And the blood thus shed will speak
In hot blushes on their cheek:
~~~
Rise, like lions after slumber
In unvanquishable number!
Shake your chains to earth like dew
Which in sleep had fallen on you:
Ye are many—they are few!
Read the full ballad here: https://www.poetsgraves.co.uk/Classic%20Poems/Shelley/the_mask_of_anarchy.htm
Image of blue lion by Jills from Pixabay
Image of old photos, letters and pen by Free-Photos from Pixabay