Famous Good Fortune Poems by Famous Poets

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

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A Song Of Peach-blossom River

...g anything outside, 
Outsiders viewing only empty mountains and thick clouds. 
...The fisherman, unaware of his great good fortune, 
Begins to think of country, of home, of worldly ties, 
Finds his way out of the cave again, past mountains and past rivers, 
Intending some time to return, when he has told his kin. 
He studies every step he takes, fixes it well in mind, 
And forgets that cliffs and peaks may vary their appearance. 
...It is certain that to enter through...Read more of this...
by Wei, Wang


A Song of Peach-Blossom River

...ing anything outside, 
Outsiders viewing only empty mountains and thick clouds. 
...The fisherman, unaware of his great good fortune, 
Begins to think of country, of home, of worldly ties, 
Finds his way out of the cave again, past mountains and past rivers, 
Intending some time to return, when he has told his kin. 
He studies every step he takes, fixes it well in mind, 
And forgets that cliffs and peaks may vary their appearance. 
...It is certain that to enter through the d...Read more of this...
by Wei, Wang

Behind the Arras

...me out of mind; 

As if they once had lived here, and stole back 
To the window crack 
For a peep which seems to say, 
"Good fortune, brother, in your house of clay!" 
And then, "Good day!" 

I hear their footsteps on the gravel walk, 
Their scraps of talk, 
And hurrying after, reach 
Only the crazy sea-drone of the beach 
In endless speech. 

And often when the autumn noons are still, 
By swale and hill 
I see their gipsy signs, 
Trespassing somewhere on my border lines; 
Wi...Read more of this...
by Carman, Bliss

Beowulf (Modern English)

...ll. 1192-1214)

Wealhtheow made a speech, speaking before that company:
“Enjoy these rings, Beowulf my dear son,
in good fortune, and the use of these garments,
these tribal treasures, and prosper well.
Declare yourself skillfully, yet be mild in counsel
to these boys. I will remember your reward for that. (ll. 1215-20)

“You have brought it about so that men will acclaim you
always, even as widely as the sea, that windy yard,
is enclosed by its walls. Be blessed s...Read more of this...
by Anonymous,

Broadway

...ch.
It wasn't an expensive watch,
I don't even know if it worked,

but the poet started, then walked away
as if so much good fortune
must be hurried away from,

before anyone realizes it's a mistake.
Carlotta, her stocking cap glazed
like feathers in the rain,

under the radiant towers, the floodlit ramparts,
must have wondered at my impulse to touch her,
which was like touching myself,

the way your own hand feels when you hold it
because you want to feel contained.
She said...Read more of this...
by Doty, Mark


Chase Henry

...n my life I was the town drunkard; 
When I died the priest denied me burial 
In holy ground. 
The which rebounded to my good fortune. 
For the Protestants bought this lot, 
And buried my body here, 
Close to the grave of the banker Nicholas, 
And of his wife Priscilla. 
Take note, ye prudent and pious souls, 
Of the cross-currents in life 
Which bring honor to the dead, who lived in shame....Read more of this...
by Masters, Edgar Lee

David Cleek

...ot you strike so clean.

Saint Andrew guard your ghost old David Cleek 
And send you home to Fifeshire once a week!
Good fortune speed your ball upon its way
When Heaven decrees its mightiest Medal Day; 10
Till saints and angels hymn for evermore
The miracle of your astounding score;
And He who keeps all players in His sight 
Walking the royal and ancient hills of light
Standing benignant at the eighteenth hole 15
To everlasting Golf consigns your soul....Read more of this...
by Sassoon, Siegfried

Enoch Arden

...ilip was her all-in-all,
And that mysterious instinct wholly died. 

And where was Enoch? prosperously sail'd
The ship `Good Fortune,' tho' at setting forth
The Biscay, roughly ridging eastward, shook
And almost overwhelm'd her, yet unvext
She slipt across the summer of the world,
Then after a long tumble about the Cape
And frequent interchange of foul and fair,
She passing thro' the summer world again,
The breath of heaven came continually
And sent her sweetly by the golden ...Read more of this...
by Tennyson, Alfred Lord

MFingal - Canto IV

...r trust thy doubly-laurell'd head,
To rude assaults of flying lead.
Hence thou, from Yankee troops retreating,
For pure good fortune shalt be beaten,
Not taken oft, released or rescued,
Pass for small change, like simple Prescott;
But captured then, as fates befall,
Shall stand thy fortune, once for all.
Then raise thy daring thoughts sublime,
And dip thy conq'ring pen in rhyme,
And changing war for puns and jokes,
Write new Blockades and Maids of Oaks."


This said, he turn'...Read more of this...
by Trumbull, John

Other Children

...s." 
Let us cradle our loves, 
We will have good children. 
Well cared for, 
We will fear nothing on earth, 
Happiness, good fortune, prudence, 
Our loves 

And this leap from age to age, 
From the order of a child to that of an old man, 
Will not diminish us. 
(Confidence)....Read more of this...
by Eluard, Paul

Reading An Anthology Of Chinese Poems Of The Sung Dynasty I Pause To Admire The Length And Clarity Of Their Titles

...and he is looking at a sparrow.
Maybe it is snowing on a town with a beautiful name.

"Viewing Peonies at the Temple of Good Fortune
on a Cloudy Afternoon" is one of Sun Tung Po's.
"Dipping Water from the River and Simmering Tea"
is another one, or just
"On a Boat, Awake at Night."

And Lu Yu takes the simple rice cake with
"In a Boat on a Summer Evening
I Heard the Cry of a Waterbird.
It Was Very Sad and Seemed To Be Saying
My Woman Is Cruel--Moved, I Wrote This Poem."

Ther...Read more of this...
by Collins, Billy

Song of the Open Road

...d before me, 
The long brown path before me, leading wherever I choose. 

Henceforth I ask not good-fortune—I myself am good fortune; 
Henceforth I whimper no more, postpone no more, need nothing,
Strong and content, I travel the open road. 

The earth—that is sufficient; 
I do not want the constellations any nearer; 
I know they are very well where they are; 
I know they suffice for those who belong to them.

(Still here I carry my old delicious burdens; 
I carry them, men a...Read more of this...
by Whitman, Walt

Still Heart

...
Vain is this struggle. 

Then take away your hands 
and silently put up with your defeat, my heart, 
and think it your good fortune to sit perfectly still 
where you are placed. 

These my lamps are blown out at every little puff of wind, 
and trying to light them I forget all else again and again. 

But I shall be wise this time and wait in the dark, 
spreading my mat on the floor; 
and whenever it is thy pleasure, my lord, 
come silently and take thy seat here....Read more of this...
by Tagore, Rabindranath

The Complaint Of A Forsaken Indian Woman

...to pursue, and if he is unable to follow, or overtake them, he perishes alone in the Desart; unless he should have the good fortune to fall in with some other Tribes of Indians. It is unnecessary to add that the females are equally, or still more, exposed to the same fate. See that very interesting work, Hearne's Journey from Hudson's Bay to the Northern Ocean. In the high Northern Latititudes, as the same writer informs us, when the Northern Lights vary...Read more of this...
by Wordsworth, William

The Earthly Paradise: The Lady of the Land

...erein, he died soon afterwards.
It happened once, some men of Italy
Midst the Greek Islands went a sea-roving,
And much good fortune had they on the sea:
Of many a man they had the ransoming,
And many a chain they gat and goodly thing;
And midst their voyage to an isle they came,
Whereof my story keepeth not the name.
Now though but little was there left to gain,
Because the richer folk had gone away,
Yet since by this of water they were fain
They came to anchor in a land-loc...Read more of this...
by Morris, William

The Garden Shukkei-en

...and therefore difficult to understand?

We have not, all these years, felt what you call happiness.
But at times, with good fortune, we experience something close.
As our life resembles life, and this garden the garden.
And in the silence surrounding what happened to us

it is the bell to awaken God that we've heard ringing....Read more of this...
by Forche, Carolyn

'Tis labour lost thus to all doors to crawl,

...'Tis labour lost thus to all doors to crawl,
Take thy good fortune, and thy bad withal;
Know for a surety each must play his game,
As from heaven's dice-box fate's dice chance to fall....Read more of this...
by Khayyam, Omar

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