On Opportunity, by Niccolò Machiavelli (Florence, 1469 - 1527), translated by Julie Steiner

Opportunity and Regret, by School of Andrea Mantegna (Italy) 1500

On Opportunity, by Niccolò Machiavelli (Florence, 1469 - 1527)

“Who are you, endowed and adorned with more
heavenly grace than mortal woman’s due?
Why fidget? And your feet have wings. What for?”

“I’m Opportunity, perceived by few.
The reason I keep moving? I’m on one
foot. (And stand atop a wheel -- that, too.)

My flying can’t compete with how I run;
my wings, though, boost my feet’s efficiency
to blinding speed -- en route, I’m seen by none.

I keep my hair in front, where it can be
spread out to cover me from chest to face,
so when I come, none recognizes me.

The back part of my head lacks any trace
of hair, so people scrabble uselessly
when I’ve passed by -- or turned, if that’s the case.”

“But tell me: coming after you, who’s she?”
“Regret. Take careful note! Get this down pat!
She’s kept by those who can’t keep hold of me.

And you yourself, while wasting time in chat
and occupied with idle thoughts’ demands,
don’t see, poor soul, and don’t yet fathom that

already I have slipped right through your hands!”

Niccolò Machiavelli, translated by Julie Steiner

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Capìtolo dell’ Occasïone

“ Chi sei tu, che non par donna mortale,
di tanta grazia il ciel t’ adorna e dota ?
perchè non posi ? e perchè a’ piedi hai l’ ale ? ”

“ Io son l’ Occasïone, a pochi nota ;
e la cagion che sempre mi travagli
è perchè io tengo un piè sopra una rota.

Volar non è ch’ al mio correr s’ agguagli ;
e però l’ ale a’ piedi mi mantengo,
acciò nel corso mio ciascuno abbagli.

Gli sparsi miei capei dinanzi io tengo ;
con essi mi ricopro il petto e ’l volto,
perch’ un non mi conosca quando io vengo.

Dietro dal capo ogni capel m’ è tolto,
onde in van si affatica un, se gli avviene
ch’ io l’ abbia trapassato, o s’ io mi volto.”

“Dimmi : chi è colei che teco viene ? ”
“ È Penitenza ; e però nota e intendi :
chi non sa prender me, costei ritiene.

E tu, mentre parlando il tempo spendi,
occupato da molti pensier vani,
già non t’ avvedi, lasso ! e non comprendi

com’ io ti son fuggita tra le mani ! ”

Niccolò Machiavelli
 
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Author's note: "The Florentine diplomat and philosopher Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli (1469 - 1527 CE) is best known for authoring a primer for opportunistic, non-hereditary “princes” to seize and maintain power. But in addition to his political analyses in prose, he composed plays, songs, sonnets, and capìtoli (poems that imitate or parody Dante’s terza rima meditations). Machiavelli’s “Capìtolo dell’ Occasïone,” translated here, is an adaptation of Epigram 33 by Decimus Magnus Ausonius (c. 310 - c. 395 CE), but Machiavelli omitted the introductory lines that establish Ausonius’s Latin version as the ekphrasis of a statue. The grisaille image of Opportunity and Regret (a.k.a. Occasion and Penitence) depicted by Andrea Mantegna’s school in Mantua (https://thumb.tildacdn.com/tild3862-6664-4466-a265-333236656233/-/resize/920x/-/format/webp/opportunity_01.jpg) was painted around 1500, as a recreation of the artwork that inspired Ausonius."
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​Julie Steiner is a pseudonym in San Diego, California. Her poetry has appeared in Literary Matters, The New Verse News, The Able Muse Review, Rattle, Light, The Asses of Parnassus, and American Arts Quarterly, among other venues. She recently embarked on her third decade as an active participant in the Eratosphere online poetry workshop (www.ablemuse.com/erato).