The Poetical Works of Andrew Lang :: :: University of Virginia Library

The Poetical Works of Andrew Lang

Edited by Mrs. Lang

Lang, Andrew (1844-1912)

Vol. I

I OXFORD AND ST. ANDREWS

II.

II SCOTLAND

III.

III LOYAL LYRICS AND DEEDS OF MEN

IV.

IV HESPEROTHEN

V BOOKS

VI.

VI HIS FRIENDS OLD AND YOUNG

VII.

II.

III.

IV.

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Ballade of Roulette

To R. R.

This life—one was thinking to-day,
In the midst of a medley of fancies—
Is a game, and the board where we play
Green earth with her poppies and pansies.
Let manque be faded romances,
Be passe remorse and regret;
Hearts dance with the wheel as it dances—
The wheel of Dame Fortune's roulette.

The lover will stake as he may
His heart on his Peggies and Nancies;
The girl has her beauty to lay;
The saint has his prayers and his trances;
The poet bets endless expanses
In dreamland; the scamp has his debt:
How they gaze at the wheel as it glances—
The wheel of Dame Fortune's roulette!

The Kaiser will stake his array
Of sabres, of Krupps, and of lances;
An Englishman punts with his pay,
And glory the jeton of France is;
Your artists—or Whistlers or Vances,
Have voices or colours to bet;
Will you moan that its motion askance is—
The wheel of Dame Fortune's roulette?

Envoy

The prize that the pleasure enhances?
The prize is—at last to forget
The changes, the chops, and the chances—
The wheel of Dame Fortune's roulette.