Methought I Saw the Footsteps of a Throne
Methought I Saw the Footsteps of a Throne - meaning Summary
Death's Throne and Serene Beauty
The speaker envisions a throne veiled in mist before which a sorrowful crowd proclaims Death as king. He ascends toward that seat and discovers a lone woman sleeping in a mossy cave, her face turned skyward and bearing a gentle, remembered expression. The poem contrasts collective suffering and mortality with a quiet, almost tender image of death as repose, suggesting both the universality of death and a serene, memorialized beauty.
Read Complete AnalysesMETHOUGHT I saw the footsteps of a throne Which mists and vapours from mine eyes did shroud-- Nor view of who might sit thereon allowed; But all the steps and ground about were strown With sights the ruefullest that flesh and bone Ever put on; a miserable crowd, Sick, hale, old, young, who cried before that cloud, "Thou art our king, O Death! to thee we groan." Those steps I clomb; the mists before me gave Smooth way; and I beheld the face of one Sleeping alone within a mossy cave, With her face up to heaven; that seemed to have Pleasing remembrance of a thought foregone; A lovely Beauty in a summer grave!
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