THOUGH 'gainst me Love and Destiny conspire, Though I must waste in an unpitied fire, By the same Deity, severe as fair, Commanded adoration and despair; Though I am mark'd for sacrifice, to tell The growing age what dangerous glories dwell In this bright dawn, who, when she spreads her rays, Will challenge every heart, and every praise; Yet she who to all hope forbids my claim, By Fortune's taught indulgence to my flame. Great Queen of Chance! unjustly we exclude Thy power an interest in beatitude, Who, with mysterious judgement, dost dispense The bounties of unerring Providence, Whilst we, to whom the causes are unknown, Would style that blindness thine, which is our own; As kind in justice to thyself as me, Thou hast redeem'd thy name and votary; Nor will I prize this less for being thine, Nor longer at my destiny repine: Counsel and choice are things below thy state; Fortune relieves the cruelties of Fate. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...HUMAN LIFE: ON THE DENIAL OF IMMORTALITY by SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE ALEXANDER'S FEAST; OR, THE POWER OF MUSIC by JOHN DRYDEN THE HUSKERS by JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER A PRESENCE by KENNETH SLADE ALLING ON THE PASSING OF THE LAST FIRE HORSE FROM MANHATTAN ISLAND by KENNETH SLADE ALLING FRAGMENT (2) by ANNA LETITIA BARBAULD |