Summary: Written probably in 1754 or 1755. First printed privately in 1774. First published, in two versions, among the notes to the poems, entitled "Ode, On the Pleasure arising from Vicissitude", and as "Ode" in Mason'sMemoirs (1775), 78-81 (with Mason's additions) and 236-237 (ll. 1-48 only) respectively.
Contents: Transcript in an unidentified neat and legible hand, entitled "Ode On the Pleasure arising from Vicissitude" (p. 7) ("Ode. II." [p. 9]). The poem, which is annotated "N.B. This Ode was left unfinished by Mr. Gray; but was compleated by Mr. Mason. // The lines by Mr. Mason are marked * / single words _" and is identical to the version in Mason'sPoems (1775), 78-81, is part of a section called "Fragments", which is separately paginated and has its own table of contents (p. 19), in a volume entitled Gray's Poems. The book carries the bookplate of Gray's friend and biographer William Mason.