The Works of Lord Byron (ed. Coleridge, Prothero)/Poetry/Volume 7/Quem Deus vult perdere prius dementat

by George Gordon Byron

QUEM DEUS VULT PERDERE PRIUS DEMENTAT.^[1]

God maddens him whom 't is his will to lose,
And gives the choice of death or phrenzy—choose.

[First published, Letters, 1900, iv. 93.]

1. [À propos of Maturin's tragedy, Manuel (vide post, p. 48, note 1), Byron "does into English" the Latin proverb by way of contrast to the text, "Whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth; blessed be the Name of the Lord" (Letter to Murray, April 2, 1817).]