Fate Poems | Poemist

Popular Fate Poems

Duino Elegies: The First Elegy

by Rainer Maria Rilke

Who, if I cried out, would hear me among the angels'
hierarchies? and even if one of them suddenly
pressed me against his heart, I would perish
in the embrace of his stronger existence.
For beauty is nothing but the beginning of terror
which we are barely able to endure and are awed
because it serenely disdains to annihilate us.
Each single angel is terrifying.
And so I force myself, swallow and hold back
the surging call of my dark sobbing.

......

"How Great My Grief" (Triolet)

by Thomas Hardy

How great my grief, my joys how few,
Since first it was my fate to know thee!
- Have the slow years not brought to view
How great my grief, my joys how few,
Nor memory shaped old times anew,
Nor loving-kindness helped to show thee
How great my grief, my joys how few,
Since first it was my fate to know thee?

Lot's Wife

by Wislawa Szymborska

They say I looked back out of curiosity.
But I could have had other reasons.
I looked back mourning my silver bowl.
Carelessly, while tying my sandal strap.
So I wouldn't have to keep staring at the righteous nape
of my husband Lot's neck.
From the sudden conviction that if I dropped dead
he wouldn't so much as hesitate.
From the disobedience of the meek.
Checking for pursuers.

......

The Duel

by Eugene Field

The gingham dog and the calico cat
Side by side on the table sat;
'T was half-past twelve, and (what do you think!)
Nor one nor t' other had slept a wink!
The old Dutch clock and the Chinese plate
Appeared to know as sure as fate
There was going to be a terrible spat.
(I wasn't there; I simply state
What was told to me by the Chinese plate!)

......

A Dream

by Robert Burns

Guid-Mornin' to our Majesty!
May Heaven augment your blisses
On ev'ry new birth-day ye see,
A humble poet wishes.
My bardship here, at your Levee
On sic a day as this is,
Is sure an uncouth sight to see,
Amang thae birth-day dresses
Sae fine this day.

......

Recent Fate Poems

The Limit and the Fate

by Igor Vykhovanets

Who’s the Beast?

A tiny kitten, small,
With fear inside its call.
Feed it — give it time,
And fire starts to climb.

But humans? Spawn of Hell,
From shadows where they dwell.
The cats look through the haze,

......

The Knight

by Arjun Rohilla

Knight was born to protect the princess,
yet now he lies in silence.
He died not because he failed his duty,
but because, instead of guarding her,
he fell in love with her.

And so he paid the price—
a heart set aflame long before
the pyre of his funeral.
As his ashes rose with the smoke,

......

So Complicated to Escape Fate

by Oscar Auliq-Ice

I tried to run,
Through streets that whispered my name,
Through nights that swallowed my tears,
Through mornings that mocked my hope.

But fate, that silent architect,
Had already drawn my shadows
Into corners I could not leave,
Into hands I could not break free from.

......

Amor Fati

by Mario Odekerken

The wind does not ask
where it is going.
It moves,
because it must.
I carry my days
like weather,
sun,storm,
each with open arms.
What comes,
comes

......

Fate

by Aynia Moreaux

Released, free falling
The wind rushing by your face
Too high to crash down

Suddenly the earth
A yawning maw beneath you
To swallow you whole

No longer soaring
Instead digging deep inside

......