Song + 

I + 

Chance + 

In the rugged Persian highlands, + 

Where the masters of the bow + 

Skill to feign a flight, and, fleeing, + 

Hurl their darts and pierce the foe; + 

There the Tigris and Euphrates + 

At one source their waters blend, + 

Soon to draw apart, and plainward + 

Each its separate way to wend. + 

When once more their waters mingle + 

In a channel deep and wide, + 

All the flotsam comes together + 

That is borne upon the tide: + 

Ships, and trunks of trees, uprooted + 

In the torrent’s wild career, + 

Meet, as ’mid the swirling waters + 

Chance their random way may steer. + 

Yet the shelving of the channel + 

And the flowing water’s force + 

Guides each movement, and determines + 

Every floating fragment’s course. + 

Thus, where’er the drift of hazard + 

Seems most unrestrained to flow, + 

Chance herself is reined and bitted, + 

And the curb of law doth know. + 