I Would Not Be A King
Percy Bysshe Shelley 1792 (Horsham) – 1822 (Lerici)
I would not be a king--enough
Of woe it is to love;
The path to power is steep and rough,
And tempests reign above.
I would not climb the imperial throne;
’Tis built on ice which fortune’s sun
Thaws in the height of noon.
Then farewell, king, yet were I one,
Care would not come so soon.
Would he and I were far away
Keeping flocks on Himalay!
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on May 03, 2023
- 21 sec read
- 513 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | ABABCDEDEFG |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 347 |
Words | 70 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 11 |
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"I Would Not Be A King" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/29136/i-would-not-be-a-king>.
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