The lines quoted by your correspondent are from Peacock's "Headlong Hall,"
and are imitated from Machiavelli's "Capitolo dell' Occasione." The whole
air stands thus; the second stanza differing slightly from the version
given by MR. BURT. The lines are very pretty, at least in my opinion.
"LOVE AND OPPORTUNITY.
"Oh! who art thou, so swiftly flying?
My name is Love, the child replied;
Swifter I pass than south-winds sighing,
Or streams through summer vales that glide.
And who art thou, his flight pursuing?
'Tis cold Neglect whom now you see:
The little god you there are viewing,
Will die, if once he's touched by me.
"Oh! who art thou so fast proceeding,
Ne'er glancing back thine eyes of flame?
Mark'd but by few, through earth I'm speeding,
And Opportunity's my name.
What form is that which scowls beside thee?
Repentance is the form you see:
Learn then, the fate may yet betide thee.
She seizes them who seize not me."