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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
511

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABABCDEDEFG
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 347
Words 70
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 11
Full analysis for I Would Not Be A King »

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…

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