Classic Poem

FROM THE SPANISH OF BARTOLOME LEONARDO .

Fabius, to think that God hath in the lines
Of the right hand disclos'd the things to come,
And in the wrinkles of the skin pourtray'd,
As in a map, the way of human life:
This is to follow with the multitude
Error or Ignorance, their common guides;
Yet surely I allow that God has plac'd
Our fate in our own hands, or evil or good,
Even as we make it: tell me, Fabius,
Art not a king thyself? when envying not
The lot of kings, no idle wish disturbs
Thy quiet life; when, a self-govern'd man,
No laws exist to thee; and when no change,
With which the will of Heaven may visit thee,
Can break the even calmness of thy soul. "