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?

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 Law

by Ella Wheeler Wilcox

The sun may be clouded, yet ever the sun
Will sweep on its course till the cycle is run.
And when onto chaos the systems are hurled,
Again shall the Builder reshape a new world.

Your path may be clouded, uncertain your goal;
Move on, for the orbit is fixed for your soul.
And though it may lead into darkness of night,
The torch of the Builder shall give you new light.

......

A War Song To Englishmen

by William Blake

Prepare, prepare the iron helm of war,
Bring forth the lots, cast in the spacious orb;
Th' Angel of Fate turns them with mighty hands,
And casts them out upon the darken'd earth!
Prepare, prepare!

Prepare your hearts for Death's cold hand! prepare
Your souls for flight, your bodies for the earth;
Prepare your arms for glorious victory;
Prepare your eyes to meet a holy God!

......

Recent Fate Poems

Pondering the MultiVerse

by Taryn G

in another universe
you and I never part.
the sun comes up and we still lay together,
washed with the glow of another day
very much in love.

sometimes knowing this universe exists
and that I will never see it
hurts me in a way I never knew I could be hurt.

......

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.

......