Double Ballad Of Life And Death

William Ernest Henley 1849 (Gloucester) – 1903 (Woking)



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,
Fate’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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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 11, 2023

42 sec read
40

Quick analysis:

Scheme ababbcbC ababbcbC ababbcbC
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 784
Words 143
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 8, 8, 8

William Ernest Henley

William Ernest Henley was an English poet, critic and editor, best remembered for his 1875 poem "Invictus". more…

All William Ernest Henley poems | William Ernest Henley Books

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    Lewis Carroll wrote: "You are old father William, the young man said..."
    A "and you're going to die tonight"
    B "and you seem to have lost your sight"
    C "and your eyes have become less bright"
    D "and your hair has become very white"