User:Giano/Rat Week
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“Mozart Zaide - Aria: Ruhe sanft, mein holdes Lebe”
‘’’Rat Week’’’ is a satirical poem written by Osbert Sitwell in December 1936, in the immediately aftermath of the King Edward VIII’s abdication. It commented, detrimentally, not only on the former king and Mrs Simpson, but also their close circle of friends.[1]
Due to the poem’s libellous content it was not published until 1986. However, Sitwell ensured that it was circulated privately to those at the pinnacle of London’s high society within days of his writing it. [2] The poem’s circulation and pithy lampooning of the former king’s friends, coupled with the tacit approval of the new queen consort, assisted in the social ostracism engineered by the British Establishment towards the old regime.
Two months later, in February 1937, a version appeared in Cavalcade, which Sitwell, who subsequently sued for breach of copyright, described as a "paper, which confounded liveliness with mischief".[3]