To Providence.

Poem by Fanny De Beauharnais Collection Miscellaneous Fugitive Poems and Prose of No ConsequencePeriod 18th centuryPrint

Chance, Providence, or Destiny,
Yes, you have always seemed wise to me.
You made my heart for sorrow:
But you gave it courage….
The good man sheds tears,
And, in misfortune, he is forgotten:
The wicked man enjoys honors;
It is the wicked man who is envied,
At the sight of all these misfortunes,
The entire Universe cries out.
Ah! Why pity virtue?
It is its own reward:
Socrates pardons the offense;
He dies, & is not cast down.
Cromwell died in alarms;
His remorse were his executioners.
How many Thrones bathed in tears!
Under thatched cottages, what repose!
The wise beauty is destitute;
What does it matter, if little suffices her!
Vice sees her, it blushes:
She is respected, she is content.

fanny-de-beauharnais

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