Fortune Empress of the World
O how Fortune, inopportune,
apes the moon's inconstancy:
waxing, waning, losing, gaining,
life treats us detestably:
first oppressing then caressing
shifts us like pawns in its play:
destitution, restitution,
melting them like ice away.
Fate, as vicious as capricious,
with your wheel whirl us around:
evil doings, worthless wooings,
crumble away to the ground:
darkly stealing, unrevealing,
working against me you go:
for your measure of foul pleasure
I bare my back to your blow.
Noble actions, fair transactions,
no longer fall to my lot:
powers that make me only to break me
all play their parts in your plot:
now it's your time - waste no more time,
pluck these poor strings and let go:
since the strongest fall the longest
let the world share in my woe!
