[Page 51]
The Decision of Fortune.
A FABLE.
1 FOrtune well-Pictur'd on a rolling Globe,
2 With waving Locks, and thin transparent Robe,
3 A Man beholding, to his Neighbour cry'd,
4 Whoe'er would catch this Dame, must swiftly ride.
5 Mark, how she seems to Fly, and with her bears,
6 All that is worth a busie Mortal's Cares:
[Page 52]7 The gilded Air about her Statue shines,
8 As if the Earth had lent it all her Mines;
9 At random Here a Diadem she slings,
10 And There a scarlet Hat with dangling Strings,
11 And to ten Thousand Fools ten Thousand glorious Things.
12 Shall I then stay at Home, Dull and Content
13 With Quarter-Days, and hard extorted Rent?
14 No, I'll to Horse, to Sea, to utmost Isles,
15 But I'll encounter her propitious Smiles:
16 Whilst you in slothful Ease may chuse to Sleep,
17 And scarce the few Paternal Acres keep.
18 Farewel, reply'd his Friend, may you advance,
19 And grow the Darling of this Lady Chance:
20 Whilst I indeed, not courting of her Grace,
21 Shall dwell content, in this my Native Place,
22 Hoping I still shall for your Friend be known:
23 But if too big for such Acquaintance grown,
[Page 53]24 I shan't be such a fond mistaken Sot,
25 To think Remembrance shou'd become my Lot;
26 When you Exalted, have your self Forgot.
27 Nor me Ambitious ever shall you find,
28 Or hunting Fortune, who, they say, is Blind:
29 But if her Want of Sight shou'd make her Stray,
30 She shou'd be Welcome, if she came this Way.
31 'Tis very like (the Undertaker cry'd)
32 That she her Steps to these lost Paths shou'd guide:
33 But I lose Time, whilst I such Thoughts deride.
34 Away he goes, with Expectation chear'd,
35 But when his Course he round the World had steer'd,
36 And much had borne, and much had hop'd and fear'd,
37 Yet cou'd not be inform'd where he might find
38 This fickle Mistress of all Human-kind:
39 He quits at length the Chace of flying Game,
40 And back as to his Neighbor's House he came,
41 He there encounters the uncertain Dame;
[Page 54]42 Who lighting from her gaudy Coach in haste,
43 To him her eager Speeches thus addrest.
44 Fortune behold, who has been long pursu'd,
45 Whilst all the Men, that have my Splendors view'd,
46 Madly enamour'd, have such Flatt'ries forg'd,
47 And with such Lies their vain Pretensions urg'd,
48 That Hither I am fled to shun their Suits,
49 And by free Choice conclude their vain Disputes;
50 Whilst I the Owner of this Mansion bless,
51 And he unseeking Fortune shall possess.
52 Tho' rightly charg'd as something Dark of Sight,
53 Yet Merit, when 'tis found, is my Delight;
54 To Knaves and Fools, when I've some Grace allow'd,
55 'Thas been like scatt'ring Money in a Croud,
56 To make me Sport, as I beheld them strive,
57 And some observ'd (thro' Age) but Half-alive;
58 Scrambling amongst the Vigorous and Young,
59 One proves his Sword, and One his wheedling Tongue,
60 All striving to obtain me right or wrong:
[Page 55]61 Whilst Crowns, and Crosiers in the Contest hurl'd,
62 Shew'd me a Farce in the contending World.
63 Thou wert deluded, whilst with Ship, or Steed,
64 Thou lately didst attempt to reach my Speed,
65 And by laborious Toil, and endless Pains,
66 Didst sell thy Quiet for my doubtful Gains
67 Whilst He alone my real Fav'rite rises,
68 Who every Thing to its just Value prizes,
69 And neither courts, nor yet my Gifts despises.
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About this text
Themes:
fate; fortune; providence
Genres:
fable
References:
DMI 23855
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Source edition
Winchilsea, Anne Kingsmill Finch, Countess of, 1661-1720. Miscellany poems, on several occasions: Written by the Right Honble Anne, Countess of Winchilsea. London: printed for J. B. and sold by Benj. Tooke, William Taylor, and James Round, 1713, pp. 51-55. [8],390p. ; 8⁰. (ESTC T94539; Foxon pp. 274-5; OTA K076314.000) (Page images digitized from a copy in the Bodleian Library [Buxton 100].)
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The text has been typographically modernized, but without any silent modernization of spelling, capitalization, or punctuation. The source of the text is given and all editorial interventions have been recorded in textual notes. Based on the electronic text originally produced by the TCP project, this ECPA text has been edited to conform to the recommendations found in Level 5 of the Best Practices for TEI in Libraries version 4.0.0.
Other works by Anne Finch (née Kingsmill), countess of Winchilsea
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- ALCIDOR. ()
- All is Vanity. ()
- The ATHEIST and the ACORN. ()
- The Battle between the Rats and the Weazles. ()
- The Brass-Pot, and Stone-Jugg. A FABLE. ()
- The CAUTIOUS LOVERS. ()
- The CHANGE. ()
- The Critick and the Writer of FABLE ()
- Cupid and Folly. Imitated from the FRENCH. ()
- Democritus and his Neighbours. Imitated from Fontaine. ()
- A Description of One of the Pieces of Tapistry at Long-Leat, made after the famous Cartons of Raphael; in which, Elymas the Sorcerer is miraculously struck Blind by St. Paul before Sergius Paulus, the Proconsul of Asia. Inscribed to the Honble HENRY THYNNE, under the Name of THEANOR. ()
- The DOG and his MASTER. ()
- The Eagle, the Sow, and the Cat. ()
- Enquiry after Peace. A Fragment. ()
- An EPISTLE from a Gentleman to Madam Deshouliers, returning Money she had lent him at Bassette, upon the first Day of their Acquaintance. Translated with Liberty from the French. ()
- An EPISTLE from Alexander to Hephaestion in his Sickness. ()
- The EQUIPAGE. Written Originally in FRENCH by L'Abbé Reigner. ()
- The EXECUTOR. ()
- Fanscomb Barn. In Imitation of MILTON. ()
- The following Lines occasion'd by the Marriage of Edward Herbert Esquire, and Mrs. Elizabeth Herbert. ()
- For the Better. Imitated from Sir Roger L'Estrange. ()
- Fragment at Tunbridge-Wells. ()
- FRAGMENT. ()
- Friendship between EPHELIA and ARDELIA. ()
- GLASS. ()
- The Hog, the Sheep, and Goat carrying to a FAIR. ()
- HOPE. ()
- The House of Socrates. ()
- The HYMN. ()
- JEALOUSY. A SONG. ()
- Jupiter and the Farmer. ()
- The King and the Shepherd. Imitated from the French. ()
- La Passion Vaincue. Done into English with Liberty. ()
- A LETTER to the same Person. ()
- LIFE's Progress. ()
- The LORD and the BRAMBLE ()
- Love, Death, and Reputation. ()
- The LYON and the GNAT. ()
- The MAN and his HORSE. ()
- The Man bitten by Fleas. ()
- Man's Injustice towards Providence. ()
- MERCURY and the ELEPHANT. A Prefatory FABLE. ()
- A Miller, his Son, and their Ass. A FABLE Translated from Monsieur de la Fontaine. ()
- Moral SONG. ()
- THE Mussulman's Dream OF THE VIZIER and DERVIS. ()
- A Nocturnal Reverie. ()
- On the Death of the Honourable Mr. James Thynne, younger Son to the Right Honourable the Lord Viscount Weymouth. ()
- The Owl Describing her Young Ones. ()
- Part of the Fifth Scene in the Second Act of Athalia, a Tragedy, written in French by Monsieur Racine. ()
- A Pastoral DIALOGUE between Two Shepherdesses. ()
- The Petition for an Absolute Retreat. Inscribed to the Right Honble CATHARINE Countess of THANET, mention'd in the Poem under the Name of ARMINDA. ()
- The Philosopher, the Young Man, and his Statue. ()
- The PHOENIX. A SONG. ()
- A Pindarick Poem Upon the Hurricane in November 1703, referring to this Text in Psalm 148. ver. 8. Winds and Storms fulfilling his Word. ()
- A POEM for the Birth-day of the Right Honble the Lady CATHARINE TUFTON. Occasion'd by sight of some Verses upon that Subject for the preceding Year, compos'd by no Eminent Hand. ()
- The Poor Man's Lamb: OR, Nathan's Parable to David after the Murder of Uriah, and his Marriage with Bathsheba. Turn'd into Verse and Paraphras'd. ()
- The Prevalence of Custom. ()
- PSALM the 137th, Paraphras'd to the 7th Verse. ()
- REFORMATION. ()
- The Shepherd and the Calm. ()
- The Shepherd Piping to the Fishes. ()
- A SONG. ()
- A SONG. ()
- A SONG. ()
- A SONG. ()
- The SPLEEN. A Pindarick Poem. ()
- A Tale of the Miser, and the Poet. Written about the Year 1709. ()
- [Tasso, Aminta:] AMINTOR, being ask'd by THIRSIS Who is the Object of his Love? speaks as follows. ()
- [Tasso, Aminta:] Daphne's Answer to Sylvia, declaring she should esteem all as Enemies, who should talk to her of LOVE. ()
- [Tasso, Aminta:] From the AMINTA of TASSO. ()
- [Tasso, Aminta:] From the AMINTA of TASSO. Part of the Description of the Golden Age. ()
- [Tasso, Aminta:] THIRSIS persuades AMINTOR not to despair upon the Predictions of Mopsus discov'ring him to be an Impostor. ()
- There's No To-Morrow, A FABLE imitated from Sir Roger L'Estrange. ()
- To a Friend, in Praise of the Invention of Writing Letters. ()
- To DEATH. ()
- To Edward Jenkinson, Esq a very young Gentleman, who writ a Poem on PEACE. ()
- To Mr. F. now Earl of W. Who going abroad, had desired ARDELIA to write some Verses upon whatever Subject she thought fit, against his Return in the Evening. ()
- To the NIGHTINGALE. ()
- To the Painter of an ill-drawn Picture of CLEONE, the Honorable Mrs. Thynne. ()
- The Tradesman and the Scholar. ()
- The TREE. ()
- VERSES Written under the King of Sweden's Picture. ()
- The Wit and the Beau. ()
- The Young RAT and his DAM, the COCK and the CAT. ()