Lovely Chance ~ A Poem by Sara Teasdale

The Grace of the Unexpected: Finding Wholeness in “Lovely Chance”

We often fight against the unexpected, but what if the “wayward” twists of fate are actually the only things keeping us whole?

Lovely Chance

Sara Teasdale

O LOVELY chance, what can I do
To give my gratefulness to you?
You rise between myself and me
With a wise persistency;
I would have broken body and soul,
But by your grace, still I am whole.
Many a thing you did to save me,
Many a holy gift you gave me,
Music and friends and happy love
More than my dearest dreaming of;
And now in this wide twilight hour
With earth and heaven a dark, blue flower,
In a humble mood I bless
Your wisdom—and your waywardness.
You brought me even here, where I
Live on a hill against the sky
And look on mountains and the sea
And a thin white moon in the pepper tree.

Source

Reflection

Sara Teasdale’s “Lovely Chance” is a profound meditation on the unseen forces—call it fate, providence, or luck—that steer us away from self-destruction. The poem centers on a “wise persistency” that intervenes between “myself and me,” suggesting that our own impulses might have “broken body and soul” if not for the saving grace of life’s unpredictable gifts.

In our contemporary society, we are obsessed with curated control. We use apps to track every habit and data to predict every outcome, often feeling like failures when life deviates from the plan. Teasdale reminds us that the most “holy gifts”—true friendship, music, and love—are rarely the result of rigid planning. They are “wayward” blessings. Applying this today means embracing the “wide twilight hour” of uncertainty. By honoring the “waywardness” of our paths, we find ourselves, like the speaker, standing on a hill against the sky, whole and grateful for the detours that saved us from ourselves.

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As you read this poem, ask yourself:

In your drive to control your future, what “lovely chances” or unexpected interruptions have actually been the very things that kept you whole?