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<h2> Quatrains </h2>
<p>One said: Thy life is thine to make or mar,<br/>
To flicker feebly, or to soar, a star;<br/>
It lies with thee — the choice is thine, is thine,<br/>
To hit the ties or drive thy auto-car.<br/>
<br/>
I answered Her: The choice is mine — ah, no!<br/>
We all were made or marred long, long ago.<br/>
The parts are written; hear the super wail:<br/>
"Who is stage-managing this cosmic show?"<br/>
<br/>
Blind fools of fate and slaves of circumstance,<br/>
Life is a fiddler, and we all must dance.<br/>
From gloom where mocks that will-o'-wisp, Free-will<br/>
I heard a voice cry: "Say, give us a chance."<br/>
<br/>
Chance! Oh, there is no chance! The scene is set.<br/>
Up with the curtain! Man, the marionette,<br/>
Resumes his part. The gods will work the wires.<br/>
They've got it all down fine, you bet, you bet!<br/>
<br/>
It's all decreed — the mighty earthquake crash,<br/>
The countless constellations' wheel and flash;<br/>
The rise and fall of empires, war's red tide;<br/>
The composition of your dinner hash.<br/>
<br/>
There's no haphazard in this world of ours.<br/>
Cause and effect are grim, relentless powers.<br/>
They rule the world. (A king was shot last night;<br/>
Last night I held the joker and both bowers.)<br/>
<br/>
From out the mesh of fate our heads we thrust.<br/>
We can't do what we would, but what we must.<br/>
Heredity has got us in a cinch —<br/>
(Consoling thought when you've been on a "bust".)<br/>
<br/>
Hark to the song where spheral voices blend:<br/>
"There's no beginning, never will be end."<br/>
It makes us nutty; hang the astral chimes!<br/>
The tables spread; come, let us dine, my friend.<br/></p>
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