Circumstance (Shelley)

For works with similar titles, see Circumstance.

Circumstance by Percy Bysshe Shelley

Translation From Plato

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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Note from the wikifier of this text:

• The original included the following prefatory note: "From the Greek."

This work published before January 1, 1923 is in the public domain worldwide because the author died at least 100 years ago.