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Epigram IV: Circumstance

Percy Bysshe Shelley 1792 (Horsham) – 1822 (Lerici)

From the Greek.

A man who was about to hang himself,
Finding a purse, then threw away his rope;
The owner, coming to reclaim his pelf,
The halter found; and used it. So is Hope
Changed for Despair--one laid upon the shelf,
We take the other. Under Heaven’s high cope
Fortune is God—all you endure and do
Depends on circumstance as much as you.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 05, 2023

19 sec read
375

Quick analysis:

Scheme X ABABABCC
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 347
Words 66
Stanzas 2
Stanza Lengths 1, 8
Full analysis for Epigram IV: Circumstance »

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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