{"id":73625,"date":"2018-01-10T04:34:45","date_gmt":"2018-01-10T11:34:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=73625"},"modified":"2018-01-10T04:34:54","modified_gmt":"2018-01-10T11:34:54","slug":"propaganda-as-poetry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2018\/01\/10\/propaganda-as-poetry\/","title":{"rendered":"Propaganda as poetry"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Rohana R. Wasala (Courtesy The Island)<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n

(This is The Mask of Anarchy<\/strong> continued from January 6, 2018)<\/p>\n

\u2018Rise like Lions after slumber<\/strong><\/p>\n

In unvanquishable number,<\/strong><\/p>\n

Shake your chains to earth like dew<\/strong><\/p>\n

Which in sleep had fallen on you\u00a0\u2014<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ye are many \u2014 they are few.\u2019<\/strong> (lines 151-155)<\/p>\n

Shelley composed \u2018The Mask of Anarchy\u2019 with the explicit and express purpose of communicating a powerful political message to the working Men of England that would rouse them to \u2018Rise like Lions\u2019 in the manner suggested in the lines quoted above. The new title under which I am here presenting to the reader the second or the concluding part of my essay on \u2018The Mask of Anarchy\u2019 is intended as a tribute to the poet, in spite of the well known negative connotations of the word \u2018propaganda\u2019. It is true that the term usually refers to biased, misleading information designed to promote a political or other viewpoint whose inherent badness or hollowness requires such distortion of the truth for its existence. Shelley\u2019s reformist ideas are based on democracy, egalitarianism, peace, humanity, and justice. The method he advocates for the workers to achieve freedom from slavery is nonviolent resistance. But the implicit insistence that they envisage no failure means that Shelley\u2019s nonviolence should not be equated with blind pacifism (a sort of peace at any cost). \u00a0Awakened lions are not known for pacifism. Shelley\u2019s message has this ambiguity. But there is no attempt at misleading his principal target audience, the workers of the early 19th<\/sup> century England. On the contrary, he is determined to bring them awareness\u00a0 of their own enslaved state, and to persuade them to free themselves from it through peaceful nonviolent democratic means using their vast numerical superiority over the minority ruling elite\u00a0 : \u2018Ye are many \u2013 they are few\u2019.<\/p>\n

The speech is delivered by an indistinct, rather airy, flitting \u2018Shape\u2019, which appears to be a persona for the poet himself. The \u2018I\u2019 found at the beginning of the poem (\u2018I lay asleep in Italy\u2019)seems to have dissolved into the voice of this Shape. Where does the Shape originate in the dream narrative?<\/p>\n

The \u2018maniac maid\u2019 \u00a0or Hope lay in the street before the horse\u2019s feet patiently expecting \u2018Murder, Fraud and Anarchy\u2019 (lines 98-101). Then \u2018a mist, a light, an image\u2019 arose between Hope and her foes, growing into \u2018a Shape arrayed in mail\u2019 (line 110). The Shape fled past over \u2018the prostrate multitude\u2019 (line 126).\u00a0 Its momentary presence revived the maiden Hope. Though the Shape was insubstantial and very quickly vanished into \u2018empty air\u2019, it was something powerful that registered on the \u2018heads of men\u2019 (that is, it was something intellectual), and \u2018Thoughts sprung where\u2019er that step did fall.\u2019. \u2026.. The Shape\u2019s soft fleeting touch gives rise to \u2018Thoughts\u2019 in the same manner that the spring brings forth flowers, \u2018As flowers beneath May\u2019s footstep waken\u2019 (line 122).<\/p>\n

And the prostrate multitude<\/p>\n

Looked \u2014 and ankle-deep in blood,<\/p>\n

Hope, that maiden most serene,<\/p>\n

Was walking with a quiet mien: (lines 126-129)<\/p>\n

When this happened, Anarchy died along with the murderers thronged behind him (as described in the following lines).<\/p>\n

And Anarchy, the ghastly birth,<\/p>\n

Lay dead earth upon the earth;<\/p>\n

The Horse of Death tameless as wind<\/p>\n

Fled, and with his hoofs did grind<\/p>\n

To dust the murderers thronged behind. (lines 130-134)<\/p>\n

The death of Anarchy and his murderous companions would have marked a happy conclusion to a story that started in despair. But then a moment of reflection tells us that Shelley is still dreaming, and he hasn\u2019t finished relating what he sees and hears while dreaming. Though he has passed the nightmare part of the dream narrative, he implies that he has much more to say. To Shelley a dream-delivered closure in the theatre of his sub-conscious mind to a\u00a0\u00a0 problem in the real world that he so passionately feels about is of no use. If he was satisfied with that, then he could not be the politically engaged authentic Shelley that we usually come across in his poetry. So lines 135 \u2013 146 announce: These words of joy and fear arose\u201d as if the \u2018indignant Earth \u2013 Which gave the Sons of England birth\u2019 \u2026\u2026 \u2018had turned every drop of blood\u2019 that had \u2018bedewed her face\u2019<\/p>\n

To an accent unwithstood\u201d \u2013<\/p>\n

As if her heart had cried out aloud:<\/p>\n

Men of England, heirs of Glory\u201d, (lines 145-147)<\/p>\n

The words of joy and fear \u2018arose\u2019, not \u2018were spoken\u2019; no speaker is given.\u00a0 (The Shape that we identify as the persona through which Shelley himself speaks is an indeterminate presence.) This is similar to the earlier phrase Thoughts sprung\u2026.\u201d.\u00a0 The \u2018indignant Earth\u2019 of England (Mother England) is not the speaker either, for it is only \u2018As if\u2019 she cried them out. The words of joy and fear which apparently spontaneously arose constitute a long political harangue. It accounts for more than half of the poem, from line 147 to the end of the 372-line poem. The voice or the idiom or the verbal mechanism that the poet is searching for, by which to rouse the ordinary working men of England (the previously \u2018adoring\u2019, \u2018prostrate\u2019 benighted, benumbed \u2018multitude\u2019) to Rise like Lions\u201d should be found, if at all, in this latter part of the poem.<\/p>\n

\u2018Rise like Lions after slumber<\/p>\n

In unvanquishable number,<\/p>\n

Shake your chains to earth like dew<\/p>\n

Which in sleep had fallen on you\u00a0\u2014<\/p>\n

Ye are many \u2014 they are few.\u2019 (lines 151-155)<\/p>\n

The same lines are repeated at the end of the poem. (They are printed at the top as an epigraph to this essay.) The rest of the poem embodies material that infuses these memorable lines with special potency.<\/p>\n

The speaker addresses the \u2018prostrate multitude\u2019. He asks them the most important question. \u2018What is Freedom?\u2019 (l. 156).\u00a0 But he doesn\u2019t expect them to answer that question, because he knows that they have no idea about freedom. So he\u00a0 approaches the question\u00a0 through its opposite, slavery, which they can describe<\/p>\n

\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026..too well\u00a0\u2014<\/p>\n

For its very name has grown<\/p>\n

To an echo of your own. (lines 157-159)<\/p>\n

We, the readers, could find an allusion here to slavery practiced in Europe and North America at that time. Just as the word \u2018slavery\u2019 echoes the name of its well known victims the Africans, it has grown to echo the name of the working men of England. They have been reduced to the state of the tools of their trades:\u00a0 Loom, and plough, and sword, and spade, for the \u2018defence and nourishment\u2019 of the tyrannical , oppressive rulers. The workers will be treated like this until a point comes when they are strong and<\/p>\n

\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026 feel revenge<\/p>\n

Fiercely thirsting to exchange<\/p>\n

Blood for blood \u2014 and wrong for wrong\u00a0\u2014 (lines 193-195)<\/p>\n

But the speaker admonishes them in line 196: Do not thus when ye are strong.\u201d (i.e., Do not think of taking revenge or of resorting to violence, when you have become strong through enhanced awareness and unity). He advocates only non-violent\u00a0 resistance. Yet again, the speaker says that even forest-dwelling savages, birds and beasts in the wild and domestic animals have food to eat and somewhere to rest, except Englishmen! Even those jungle men or wild animals would not endure deprivation, without resistance, unlike you (as suggested in lines 197-204). These are words hardly likely to promote nonviolence!<\/p>\n

This is Slavery \u2014 savage men,<\/p>\n

Or wild beasts within a den<\/p>\n

Would endure not as ye do\u00a0\u2014<\/p>\n

But such ills they never knew. (lines 205-208)<\/p>\n

In spite of his advocacy of non-violent resistance a moment ago, this sort of language could provoke violence among the oppressed workers.<\/p>\n

Then, in the next section of his speech the speaker asks the question to Freedom itself: \u2018What art thou Freedom?\u2019 The slaves cannot answer the question from their \u2018living graves\u2019; the tyrants would flee at this demand, as they would be compelled to do if the workers who currently show the ignorance and passivity of a \u2018slave in soul\u2019 were to articulate what freedom actually is; at present they cannot do that though they are familiar with slavery through experience. In an apostrophe to Freedom, the speaker (who must be the poet himself) launches into a long series of instances where freedom manifests itself.<\/p>\n

Thou art clothes, and fire, and food<\/p>\n

For the trampled multitude\u00a0\u2014<\/p>\n

No \u2014 in countries that are free<\/p>\n

Such starvation cannot be<\/p>\n

As in England now we see\u201d. (lines 221-225)<\/p>\n

To the rich you are a check on their oppression of the poor (trampled multitude). You are Justice \u2013 your righteous laws are not sold for gold as they are in England. You are Wisdom. \u2018Freemen never dream\u2019 that<\/p>\n

All those who think those things untrue<\/p>\n

Of which Priests make much ado\u201d (lines 236-237)<\/p>\n

will be damned for ever!<\/p>\n

Science, Poetry, and Thought are Freedom\u2019s lamps, the speaker continues. Let deeds, not words, express your (i.e., Freedom\u2019s) loveliness. Then the speech makes a practical proposal: Let there be a great Assembly \u2018On some spot of English ground\u2019 attended by people from \u2018the haunts of daily life\u2019 and even from the \u2018palaces\u2019,<\/p>\n

Ye who suffer woes untold,<\/p>\n

Or to feel or to behold<\/p>\n

Your Lost country bought and sold<\/p>\n

With a price of blood and gold\u201d (lines 291-294)<\/p>\n

Such a gathering is for the purpose of making a solemn declaration \u2018with measured words\u2019 that\u00a0 ye (i.e., the working men of England) are free \u2018as God has made ye\u2019. \u2018Let your strong and simple words be keen to wound as sharpened swords, and wide as targes (small shields) to protect you\u2019. But all this must be within the law.<\/p>\n

It sounds as if the speaker fears that he would be mistaken to be an advocate of violence. Even if the tyrants should violate the old laws of England, \u2018the blood will rest on them, not on you\u2019;<\/p>\n

(you, i.e., the working men of England, should let them)<\/p>\n

Slash, and stab, and maim, and hew \u2013<\/p>\n

What they like, that let them do.<\/p>\n

\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026.<\/p>\n

With folded arms and steady eyes,<\/p>\n

\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026<\/p>\n

Look upon them as they slay.\u201d (lines 342\u2026..347)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Then the \u2018tyrants\u2019 will be ashamed of themselves:<\/p>\n

\u2018And the bold, true warriors<\/p>\n

Who have hugged Danger in wars<\/p>\n

Will turn to those who would be free,<\/p>\n

Ashamed of such base company.\u2019 (lines 356-359)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Men of England will need great courage and forbearance to abide by Shelley\u2019s admonition. But he is confident that<\/p>\n

\u2018\u2026.. these words shall then become<\/p>\n

Like Oppression\u2019s thundered doom<\/p>\n

Ringing through each heart and brain,<\/p>\n

Heard again \u2014 again \u2014 again\u00a0\u2014\u2018 (lines 364-367)<\/p>\n

\u2018These words\u2019 here may be interpreted as referring to lines 151-155, which are repeated at the conclusion of the poem:<\/p>\n

\u2018Rise like Lions after slumber<\/p>\n

In unvanquishable number,<\/p>\n

Shake your chains to earth like dew<\/p>\n

Which in sleep had fallen on you\u00a0\u2014<\/p>\n

Ye are many \u2014 they are few.\u2019 (lines 368-372)<\/p>\n

Shelley was writing two hundred years ago. But his refined rational voice against oppression of different kinds \u2013 political, economic, religious \u2013 resonates with meaning for many nations in the world even today.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Rohana R. Wasala (Courtesy The Island) (This is The Mask of Anarchy continued from January 6, 2018) \u2018Rise like Lions after slumber In unvanquishable number, Shake your chains to earth like dew Which in sleep had fallen on you\u00a0\u2014 Ye are many \u2014 they are few.\u2019 (lines 151-155) Shelley composed \u2018The Mask of Anarchy\u2019 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[91],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-73625","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-rohana-r-wasala"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73625","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=73625"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73625\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=73625"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=73625"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=73625"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}