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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


EPIGRAM: CIRCUMSTANCE by ANONYMOUS

First Line: A MAN WHO WAS ABOUT TO HANG HIMSELF
Last Line: DEPENDS UPON CIRCUMSTANCE AS MUCH AS YOU

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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