Oh! Fortune
Oh, fortune
Like the moon
You’re always changing,
Always rising
Or falling;
Life is a damn mess
Now it hardens
And then it cares
For the game of the mind,
Poverty,
Power
Melts away like ice.
A monstrous fate
And empty,
You’re a spinning wheel,
A bad state,
A false hope
That’s always dissolving,
Shaded
And veiled
You shine on me too;
Now through the game
Bare back
I bear your wickedness.
A fate of health
And virtue
Is now against me,
It’s affection
And defect
Always in servitude.
At this hour
Without delay
Touch the pulse of my heart;
What by fate
Strikes the strong,
Mourn with me, everyone!
I lament the wounds of fortune
With tearful eyes
For what her gifts
She takes away from me, rebellious.
It’s true, what’s written,
With a head full of hair,
But usually follows
A balding opportunity.
On fortune’s throne
I sat elevated,
Crowned with the varied
Flower of prosperity;
For whatever I flourished
Happy and blessed,
Now from the top I’ve fallen
Privileged glory.
The wheel of fortune turns:
I descend diminished;
Another is lifted high;
Too exalted
The king sits at the peak
Beware of the fall!
For under the axis we read
Of Queen Hecuba.