CENTURIA VIII · QUATRAIN LIX
The Wheel of Fortune
Par deux fois hault, par deux fois mis u00e0 bas,
L'orient aussi l'occident faiblira:
Son adversaire apres plusieurs combats,
Par mer chassu00e9 au besoin faillira.
Twice raised high, twice cast down,
the East likewise shall weaken the West:
his adversary after several combats,
driven by sea, in the hour of need he shall fail.
THE MASTER SAYS…
This quatrain relates to Napoleon. Napoleon once came to power and was then exiled. He escaped and came to power again. And again he was defeated and again exiled. The critical moment when the situation changed was that Napoleon redirected part of his land forces to naval forces, but they were defeated at the most decisive moment. “The East will also weaken the West” refers to his disastrous attempt to conquer Russia by organizing a campaign against Moscow. He was caught by winter, and his men died from frost. That is why he said: “The East will weaken the West,” since Napoleon represented a western nation, and Russia is part of the East. This event turned Napoleon’s wheel of fortune back. Translators interpret east as “Asia” and say the quatrain refers to an attack on Western forces.