Five reasons why I like this poem.
- It was written a very long time ago by John Skelton (c 1463-1529), but the voice is clear as a bell.
2. Skelton was a rector in Diss, Norfolk, but was disreputable. I wonder whether his jeopardies weren’t the kind you need to avoid when up to mischief.
3. I like the way Fortune gets capital F, and is a ‘she’.
4. It is short and would fit beautifully on a postcard.
5. It’s the sort of poem that has space for every reader. Yes, I find myself thinking. This is about me.
Though Ye Suppose All Jeopardies Are Passed
Though ye suppose all jeopardies are passed,
And all is done that ye lookéd for before,
Ware yet, I rede you, of Fortune’s double cast,
For one false point she is wont to keep in store,
And under the fell oft festeréd is the sore:
That when ye think all danger for to pass
Ware of the lizard lieth lurking in the grass.
You’re so right about Skelton, he is direct and very much alive (perhaps being a Yorkshire man?). He is a proper laureate poet and if scurrilous by later reputation, that comes with telling the truth, even to Cardinal Wolsey’s face.