Analysis of 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!


Scheme ABABCDEDEFG
Poetic Form
Metre 11110101 111111 011101101 01101 1111001001 11111101 100111 1111011 111111 11010101 10111
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 347
Words 70
Sentences 5
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 11
Lines Amount 11
Letters per line (avg) 24
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 262
Words per stanza (avg) 68
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on May 03, 2023

21 sec read
513

Percy Bysshe Shelley

Percy Bysshe Shelley was one of the major English Romantic poets and is regarded by critics as among the finest lyric poets in the English language. more…

All Percy Bysshe Shelley poems | Percy Bysshe Shelley Books

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