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Poem
January 27, 1758
The New Hampshire Gazette
Portsmouth, Rockingham County, New Hampshire
What is this article about?
A satirical poem mocking the anxiety and complaints of lottery players despite odds, advising contentment as the true prize.
Clipping
OCR Quality
98%
Excellent
Full Text
The LOTTERY.
WHILE fickle fortune turns the wheel,
What strange anxiety we feel!
Each thinks to win but ah! how vain;
You'll find at last they all complain:
Reason will not their rage abate;
They curse their luck, and blame their fate.
Nay, tho' a ten pound prize they get,
Alike they fume, and vex, and fret;
For they've on thousands set their mind,
And think no blanks at all to find:
But those, whose senses are not gone,
Allow there's eighty odds to one.---
Then cease to vex--thus say the wise,
"Content makes any lot a prize."
WHILE fickle fortune turns the wheel,
What strange anxiety we feel!
Each thinks to win but ah! how vain;
You'll find at last they all complain:
Reason will not their rage abate;
They curse their luck, and blame their fate.
Nay, tho' a ten pound prize they get,
Alike they fume, and vex, and fret;
For they've on thousands set their mind,
And think no blanks at all to find:
But those, whose senses are not gone,
Allow there's eighty odds to one.---
Then cease to vex--thus say the wise,
"Content makes any lot a prize."
What sub-type of article is it?
Satire
Epigram
What themes does it cover?
Satire Society
Moral Virtue
What keywords are associated?
Lottery
Fortune
Anxiety
Prize
Contentment
Odds
Poem Details
Title
The Lottery.
Subject
On Lottery Players' Folly
Form / Style
Rhymed Couplets
Key Lines
"Content Makes Any Lot A Prize."