King Alfred (poem)

King Alfred is an epic poem by John Fitchett (died 1838) and completed by Robert Roscoe, published in 1841 and 1842.

[2] The great work of John Fitchett's life was one which occupied his leisure hours for forty years, and in the composition of which he bestowed unwearied industry and acute research.

It was cast in the form of a romantic epic poem, the subject being the life and times of King Alfred, including, in addition to a biography of Alfred, an epitome of the antiquities, topography, religion, and civil and religious condition of the country.

He left money for printing a new edition, and the work of supervising it was undertaken by his pupil, clerk, and friend, Robert Roscoe (son of William Roscoe), who completed the task by adding 2,585 lines, the entire work containing more than 131,000 lines.

This prodigious monument was published by Pickering in 1841–2, in six volumes, 8vo, with the title of 'King Alfred, a Poem.'