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Classic and Contemporary Poetry
THE COMMON LOT, by MENANDER Poet's Biography First Line: If, when your mother bore you, you were born Last Line: And when he falls, shatters so much that's good. | |||
IF, when your mother bore you, you were born Alone of men, young sir, always to do Your pleasure and live always happily, -- If some god promised you such privilege, Then rightly are you angry. He has lied And done you singular wrong. But if one law Of Nature holds, and you breathed common air -- So let me phrase it in the tragic style -- Put on a better grace and use your reason. To sum up what I mean, you are a man, Than whom no creature suffers change more quickly, Climbing up high, then falling back to the depths, -- It's logic. He, whom Nature made so weak, Plays manager to all that is most great, And when he falls, shatters so much that's good. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...DEATH THE LEVELLER by MENANDER MY OWN, MY NATIVE LAND by MENANDER THE EPITREPONTES (THE ARBITRATION): CHARISIUS REBUKES HIMSELF by MENANDER THE FAMILY DINNER-PARTY by MENANDER THE MUTES IN LIFE'S CHORUS by MENANDER THIS DEFILETH A MAN by MENANDER THIS WORLD IS ALL A FLEETING SHOW by MENANDER |
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