Ballade Of Roulette
Andrew Lang 1844 (Selkirk, Scottish Borders) – 1912 (Banchory)
This life--one was thinking to-day,
In the midst of a medley of fancies -
Is a game, and the board where we play
Green earth with her poppies and pansies.
Let manque be faded romances,
Be passe remorse and regret;
Hearts dance with the wheel as it dances -
The wheel of Dame Fortune's roulette.
The lover will stake as he may
His heart on his Peggies and Nancies;
The girl has her beauty to lay;
The saint has his prayers and his trances;
The poet bets endless expanses
In Dreamland; the scamp has his debt:
How they gaze at the wheel as it glances -
The wheel of Dame Fortune's roulette!
The Kaiser will stake his array
Of sabres, of Krupps, and of lances;
An Englishman punts with his pay,
And glory the jeton of France is;
Your artists, or Whistlers or Vances,
Have voices or colours to bet;
Will you moan that its motion askance is -
The wheel of Dame Fortune's roulette?
ENVOY.
The prize that the pleasure enhances?
The prize is--at last to forget
The changes, the chops, and the chances -
The wheel of Dame Fortune's roulette.
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 59 sec read
- 83 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | ababcdeD ababcdcD abacbdcD cdeD |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,012 |
Words | 194 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8, 4 |
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"Ballade Of Roulette" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 10 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/2759/ballade-of-roulette>.
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