Double Ballad of Life and Death, por William Ernest Henley

William Ernest Henley

Double Ballad of Life and Death

(Fragment)

Fools may pine, and sots may swill,

Cynics gibe, and prophets rail,

Moralists may scourge and drill,

Preachers prose, and fainthearts quail.

Let them whine, or threat, or wail!

Till the touch of Circumstance

Down to darkness sink the scale,

Fait’s a fiddler, Life’s a dance.

What if skies be wan and chill?

What if winds be harsh and stale?

Presently the east will thrill,

And the sad and shrunken sail

Bellying with a kindly gale,

Bear you sunwards, while your chance

Sends you back the hopeful hail: -

‘Fate’s a fiddler, Life’s a dance.’

Idle shot or coming bill,

Hapless love or broken bail,

Gulp it (never chew your pill!)

And if Burgundy should fail,

Try the humbler pot of ail!

Over all is heaven’s expanse.

Gold’s to find among the shale,

Fate’s a fiddler, Life’s a dance.

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William Ernest Henley

Double Ballad of Life and Death

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