Be Content in every Station. Fortune who no Diversion knows/ Like disappointment laughs to see,/ How variously she can her Gifts transpose,/ Sometimes to one, Sometimes to another free./ Be sure to enjoy her while she's pleas'd to stay./ But if for flight she does prepare,/ Don't you at parting drop a Tear,/ But hold your Virtue fast for that alone you may./ Fortune a Goddess is to fools alone,/ The wise are always Masters of their own.

James Arnold
[n.d, c.1750]
Pen and ink, 405 x 335mm. 16 x 13¼". Repairs at top.
A handwritten poem on the virtues of self-sufficiency, surrounded by decorative figures.
From Capper Archive.
[Ref: 11270] £480.00