A Challenge to Fate
Why will you vex me with your futile conflict,Why will you strive with me, O foolish Fate?You cannot break me with your poignant envy,You cannot slay me with your subtle hate:For all the cruel folly you pursueI will not cry with suppliant hands to you.
You may perchance wreck in your bitter maliceThe radiant empire of mine eager eyes . . .Say, can you rob my memory's dear dominionO'er sunlit mountains and sidereal skies?In my enduring treasuries I holdTheir ageless splendour of unravished gold.
You may usurp the kingdoms of my hearing . . .Say, shall my scatheless spirit cease to hearThe bridal rapture of the blowing valleys,The lyric pageant of the passing year,The sounding odes and surging harmoniesOf battling tempests and unconquered seas?
Yea, you may smite my mouth to throbbing silence,Pluck from my lips power of articulate words . . .Say, shall my heart lack its familiar languageWhile earth has nests for her mellifluous birds?Shall my impassioned heart forget to singWith the ten thousand voices of the spring?
Yea, you may quell my blood with sudden anguish,Fetter my limbs with some compelling pain . . .How will you daunt my free, far-journeying fancyThat rides upon the pinions of the rain?How will you tether my triumphant mind,Rival and fearless comrade of the wind?
Tho' you deny the hope of all my being,Betray my love, my sweetest dream destroy,Yet will I slake my individual sorrowAt the deep source of Universal joy. . . .O Fate, in vain you hanker to controlMy frail, serene, indomitable soul.
Words in this poem 15
- futile a.
- Talkative; loquacious; tattling. [L. futilis that easily pours out, that easily lets loose, vain, worthless, from the root of fundere to pour out: cf. F. futile. See Fuse, v. t.]
- poignant a.
- Pricking; piercing; sharp; pungent. [F., p. pr. of poindre to sting, fr. L. pungere to prick, sting. See Pungent.]
- suppliant a.
- Asking earnestly and submissively; entreating; beseeching; supplicating. [F., p.pr. of supplier to entreat, L. supplicare. See Supplicate, and cf. Supplicant.]
- sunlit a.
- Lighted by the sun.
- sidereal a.
- Relating to the stars; starry; astral; as, sidereal astronomy. [L. sidereus, from sidus, sideris, a constellation, a star. Cf. Sideral, Consider, Desire.]
- ageless a.
- Without old age limits of duration; as, fountains of ageless youth.
- splendour n.
- Great brightness; brilliant luster; brilliancy; as, the splendor ot the sun. B. Jonson. [L. fr. splendere to shine: cf. F. splendeur.]
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- pageant n.
- A theatrical exhibition; a spectacle. [OE. pagent, pagen, originally, a movable scaffold or stage, hence, what was exhibited on it, fr. LL. pagina, akin to pangere to fasten; cf. L. pagina page, leaf]
- mellifluous a.
- Flowing as with honey; smooth; flowing sweetly or smoothly; as, a mellifluous voice. [L. mellifluus; mel, mellis, honey (akin to Gr. milip) + fluere to flow. See Mildew, Fluent, and cf. Marmalade.]
- impassioned p. p.
- Actuated or characterized by passion or zeal; showing warmth of feeling; ardent; animated; excited; as, an impassioned orator or discourse.
- quell v. t.
- To take the life of; to kill. [OE. quellen to kill, AS. cwellan, causative of cwelan to die; akin to OHG. quellen to torment, Icel. kvelja. See Quail to cower.]
- daunt v. t.
- To overcome; to conquer. [OF. danter, F. dompter to tame, subdue, fr. L. domitare, v. intens. of domare to tame. See Tame.]
- tether n.
- A long rope or chain by which an animal is fastened, as to a stake, so that it can range or feed only within certain limits. [Formerly tedder, OE. tedir; akin to LG. tider, tier, Icel. tjo, Dan. töir. *64.]
- hanker v. i.
- To long (for) with a keen appetite and uneasiness; to have a vehement desire; -- usually with for or after; as, to hanker after fruit; to hanker after the diversions of the town. [Prob. fr. hang; cf. D. hunkeren, hengelen.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
A Challenge to Fate is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Bird of Time: Songs of Life, Death & the Spring (London: William Heinemann; New York: John Lane Company, 1912), Wikisource; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Sarojini Naidu, A Challenge to Fate, in The Bird of Time: Songs of Life, Death & the Spring (1912), text of Wikisource, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/naidu-bird-of-time/a-challenge-to-fate.html, id L27556.
Form and metre
A Challenge to Fate is 36 lines in 6 stanzas of 6 lines each. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 87%).
See other poems in iambic pentameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 -A-ABB conflict · fateA · envy · hateA · pursueB · youB
- 2 -A-ABB malice · eyesA · dominion · skiesA · holdB · goldB
- 3 -ABABB hearing · hearA · valleysB · yearA · harmoniesB · seasB
- 4 -A-ABB silence · wordsA · language · birdsA · singB · springB
- 5 -A-ABB anguish · painA · fancy · rainA · mindB · windB
- 6 -A-ABB being · destroyA · sorrow · joyA · controlB · soulB
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Why will you vex me with your futile conflict, | 11 | ·······/˘/˘ |
| Why will you strive with me, O foolish Fate? | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| You cannot break me with your poignant envy, | 11 | ·/˘····/˘/˘ |
| You cannot slay me with your subtle hate: | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| For all the cruel folly you pursue | 10 | ···/˘/˘·˘/ |
| I will not cry with suppliant hands to you. | 11 | ·····/˘˘··· |
| You may perchance wreck in your bitter malice | 11 | ··˘/···/˘/˘ |
| The radiant empire of mine eager eyes . . . | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| Say, can you rob my memory's dear dominion | 11 | ·····/˘·˘/˘ |
| O'er sunlit mountains and sidereal skies? | 11 | ·/·/˘·˘/˘˘· |
| In my enduring treasuries I hold | 10 | ··˘/˘/˘˘·· |
| Their ageless splendour of unravished gold. | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| You may usurp the kingdoms of my hearing . . . | 11 | ···/·/˘··/˘ |
| Say, shall my scatheless spirit cease to hear | 10 | ······/··· |
| The bridal rapture of the blowing valleys, | 11 | ·/˘/˘··/˘/˘ |
| The lyric pageant of the passing year, | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| The sounding odes and surging harmonies | 10 | ·/˘··/˘/˘˘ |
| Of battling tempests and unconquered seas? | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| Yea, you may smite my mouth to throbbing silence, | 11 | ·······/˘/˘ |
| Pluck from my lips power of articulate words . . . | 11 | ····/·˘/˘·· |
| Say, shall my heart lack its familiar language | 11 | ······˘/˘/˘ |
| While earth has nests for her mellifluous birds? | 11 | ······˘/˘˘· |
| Shall my impassioned heart forget to sing | 10 | ··˘/˘·˘/·· |
| With the ten thousand voices of the spring? | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| Yea, you may quell my blood with sudden anguish, | 11 | ·······/˘/˘ |
| Fetter my limbs with some compelling pain . . . | 10 | /˘····˘/˘· |
| How will you daunt my free, far-journeying fancy | 11 | ·······/˘/˘ |
| That rides upon the pinions of the rain? | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| How will you tether my triumphant mind, | 10 | ···/˘·˘/˘· |
| Rival and fearless comrade of the wind? | 10 | /˘·/˘/···· |
| Tho' you deny the hope of all my being, | 11 | ··˘/·····/˘ |
| Betray my love, my sweetest dream destroy, | 10 | ˘/···/˘·˘/ |
| Yet will I slake my individual sorrow | 11 | ······˘/˘/˘ |
| At the deep source of Universal joy. . . . | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| O Fate, in vain you hanker to control | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| My frail, serene, indomitable soul. | 10 | ··˘/˘/˘˘˘· |
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