JE Flecker read by Classic Poetry Aloud:

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Giving voice to the poetry of the past.

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Opportunity

by James Elroy Flecker (1884 – 1915)

From Machiavelli

"But who art thou, with curious beauty graced,

O woman, stamped with some bright heavenly seal

Why go thy feet on wings, and in such haste?"

"I am that maid whose secret few may steal,

Called Opportunity. I hasten by

Because my feet are treading on a wheel,

Being more swift to run than birds to fly.

And rightly on my feet my wings I wear,

To blind the sight of those who track and spy;

Rightly in front I hold my scattered hair

To veil my face, and down my breast to fall,

Lest men should know my name when I am there;

And leave behind my back no wisp at all

For eager folk to clutch, what time I glide

So near, and turn, and pass beyond recall."

"Tell me; who is that Figure at thy side?"

"Penitence. Mark this well that by decree

Who lets me go must keep her for his bride.

And thou hast spent much time in talk with me

Busied with thoughts and fancies vainly grand,

Nor hast remarked, O fool, neither dost see

How lightly I have fled beneath thy hand."

First aired: 25 July 2007

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