Thomas Urquhart

Epigrams. The Third Booke. ¹ 19. The Parallel of Nature, and For∣tune

A Fly, which is a despicable creature
Obtaines, beside her wings, six feet from Nature:
Yet foure feet onely, she is pleas'd to grant
To the huge body of an Elephant:
So Fortune doth withdraw her gifts from some,
Whose real worth surpasseth theirs, on whom
She hath bestowed them, as forcibly,
As Elephants in strenth exceed a fly.