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Famous Bad Luck Poems by Famous Poets

These are examples of famous Bad Luck poems written by some of the greatest and most-well-known modern and classical poets. PoetrySoup is a great educational poetry resource of famous bad luck poems. These examples illustrate what a famous bad luck poem looks like and its form, scheme, or style (where appropriate).

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by Burns, Robert
...WHAT can a young lassie, what shall a young lassie,
 What can a young lassie do wi’ an auld man?
Bad luck on the penny that tempted my minnie
 To sell her puir Jenny for siller an’ lan’.
Bad luck on the penny that tempted my minnie
 To sell her puir Jenny for siller an’ lan’!


He’s always compleenin’ frae mornin’ to e’enin’,
 He hoasts and he hirples the weary day lang;
He’s doylt and he’s dozin, his blude it is frozen,—
 O dreary’s the night wi’ a...Read more of this...



by Frost, Robert
...lantern rattle
(But saved the light from going out.)
 So half-way down he fought the battle

Incredulous of his own bad luck.
 And then becoming reconciled
To everything, he gave it up
 And came down like a coasting child.

“Well—I—be—” that was all he said,
 As standing in the river road,
He looked back up the slippery slope
 (Two miles it was) to his abode.

Sometimes as an authority
 On motor-cars, I’m asked if I
Should say our stock was petered out,
 And t...Read more of this...

by Zaran, Lisa
...I went looking for God 
but I found you instead. 
Bad luck or destiny, 
you decide. 

Buried in the muck, 
the soot of the city, 
sorrow for an appetite, 
devil on your left shoulder, 
angel on your right. 

You, with your thorny rhythms 
and tragic, midnight melodies. 

My heart never tried 
to commit suicide before. 

Originally published in Literati Magazine, Winter 2005
Copyright © Lisa ...Read more of this...

by Guillen, Rafael
...'m speaking here of a labyrinth
of doors already closed, with assumed
reasons for being, or not being,
for categorizing bad luck
or good, bread, or an expression
— tenderness and panic and frigidity - for the children
growing up. And the silence.
And the cities, sparkling, empty.
and the mediocrity, like a hot
lava, spewed out over
the grain, and the voice, and the idea.

It's not fear. The real fear hasn't come yet.
But it will. It's the doublethi...Read more of this...

by Goose, Mother
...See a pin and pick it up,All the day you'll have good luck.See a pin and let it lay,Bad luck you'll have all the day. ...Read more of this...



by Joyce, James
...ited
 company
With the bailiff's bom at the door,
 (Chorus) Bimbam at the door.
 Then he'll bum no more.

Sweet bad luck on the waves washed to our island
The hooker of that hammerfast viking
And Gall's curse on the day when Eblana bay
Saw his black and tan man-o'-war.
 (Chorus) Saw his man-o'-war
 On the harbour bar.

Where from? roars Poolbeg. Cookingha'pence, he bawls
 Donnez-moi scampitle, wick an wipin'fampiny
Fingal Mac Oscar Onesine Bargearse Bonifa...Read more of this...

by Villon, Francois
...e for a spot that it is won;
so cool you keep your act that your spirit freezes;
so hurriedly you act that you run into bad luck;
so tight you embrace that your catch slips away.
So loud you cry Christmas, it comes.

So you scoff and laugh, and the fun is gone.
So you crave and spend, and lose your shirt.
So candid you are, no blow can be too low.
So good as a gift should a promise be.
So, if you love God, you obey the Church.
So, when you give muc...Read more of this...

by Kipling, Rudyard
...! Largesse, Fortune!
 Give or hold at your will.
 If I've no care for Fortune,
 Fortune must follow me still.

 Bad Luck, she is never a lady
 But the commonest wench on the street,
 Shuffling, shabby and shady,
 Shameless to pass or meet.
 Walk with her once--it's a weakness!
 Talk to her twice. It's a crime!
 Thrust her away when she gives you "good day"
 And the besom won't board you next time.
 Largesse! Largesse, Fortune!
 What is Your Ladyship's mood...Read more of this...

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