The Complete Poetical Works of Percy Bysshe Shelley (ed. Hutchinson, 1914)/Fragment: 'I would not be a king'

by Percy Bysshe Shelley

FRAGMENT: 'I WOULD NOT BE A KING'

[Published by Mrs. Shelley, P. W., 1839, 2nd ed.]

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; 5
'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 10
Keeping flocks on Himalay!