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.

......

My Guardian Angel

by Robert William Service

When looking back I dimly see
The trails my feet have trod,
Some hand divine, it seems to me,
Has pulled the strings with God;
Some angel form has lifeward leaned
When hope for me was past;
Some love sublime has intervened
To save me at the last.

For look you! I was born a fool,

......

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!)

......

The Fallen Elm

by John Clare

Old elm that murmured in our chimney top
The sweetest anthem autumn ever made
And into mellow whispering calms would drop
When showers fell on thy many coloured shade
And when dark tempests mimic thunder made -
While darkness came as it would strangle light
With the black tempest of a winter night
That rocked thee like a cradle in thy root -
How did I love to hear the winds upbraid
Thy strength without - while all within was mute.

......

The Prospector

by Robert William Service

I strolled up old Bonanza, where I staked in ninety-eight,
A-purpose to revisit the old claim.
I kept thinking mighty sadly of the funny ways of Fate,
And the lads who once were with me in the game.
Poor boys, they're down-and-outers, and there's scarcely one to-day
Can show a dozen colors in his poke;
And me, I'm still prospecting, old and battered, gaunt and gray,
And I'm looking for a grub-stake, and I'm broke.

I strolled up old Bonanza. The same old moon looked down;

......

Recent Fate Poems

Sonnet 65: I Wonder, Where Your True Fate Is Laid, Ye

by Pijush Biswas

I wonder, where your true fate is laid, ye
Either in deep sea, or where you didn't go
Whereby bent your true majesty; I see
That, so an unwanted glory, always,
Remains at the left and ne'er change to so
O, petty wear that unsuited, a dress
No one loves to bring such mystery;
The best of all ne'er surpasses in gloom
And shop 'en in accident but worry,
And being mature in mind does a much

......

Do you have an opportunity?/А чи дано тобі? (Ukrainian)

by Halyna Myroslava

А чи дано тобі,
Початому в мокрому лоні,
Викупатись у Вселюбові істини,
Пригадуючи тишу серед океану води
і потоків крови,
Коли пам’ять завмирає перед глибинами пізнання.

А чи дано тобі,
Окресленому двома півкулями на мапі,
названій мозком,

......

And everything was wrong/І все було не так (Ua)

by Halyna Myroslava

І все було не так
Спершу було Я
Що не знало ні неба ні землі
Стиснене в порожнині матері
глухими стінами
Я
нестримно шукаюче виходу
з власної пустоти
ростучого всередині всесвіту
Щупальцями клітин роздираюче простір

......

The Show Must Go On

by Richard Randolph

The Show Must Go On

Once there was a poor actor
who grew tired of the part he played,
so one day he changed all the words around,
just said what he wanted to say.

'You can't do that! ' cried the director,
'the plot's been carefully arranged.
You must die at the end of Act IV.

......

I Guess That's What the Greeks Meant by Fate

by Richard Randolph

When Titania, the queen of the fairies,
falls in love with an ass in A Midsummer Night's Dream,
she's really reached Bottom,
and we cannot help but pity her.
But it's amusing, too, to see someone
so noble so blinded by love,
and we recognize the truth in it.
After all, that might well be any one of us,
because love is not really a choice.
It's not based on respect, intelligence, shared sensibilities,

......