# Fate explained — Poetry

> Chapter companion for Poetry by George MacDonald.

## What happens

The speaker describes being violently thrust from peaceful rest into chaotic, desolate landscapes, feeling scourged by ancient life's struggles. They reflect on the countless anguishes and prayers that have risen to heaven when black fate arrives like a whirlwind or avalanche, and sense a shivering tomb opening beneath them, as if all are huddled together in a single doom.

## Themes in this chapter

### Suffering and Purification

The speaker endures scourging, anguish, and the crushing weight of fate, suggesting a purifying ordeal.

### Spiritual Struggle and Doubt

The poem depicts a violent spiritual crisis, with prayers rising to heaven amid the onslaught of fate, questioning divine order.

## Character check-ins

### Unknown

The speaker who experiences being thrust out and driven through desolate passages, reflecting on fate and anguish.

## Key lines

> Oft, as I rest in quiet peace, am I Thrust out at sudden doors, and madly driven Through desert solitudes, and thunder-riven Black passages which have not any sky

Often when I am calmly at rest, I am suddenly forced out and wildly driven through empty deserts and dark, thunder-split corridors that have no visible sky.

_The speaker describes being violently disrupted from peace into a chaotic, skyless landscape._

> How many an anguish hath gone up to heaven, How many a hand in prayer been lifted high When the black fate came onward with the rush Of whirlwind, avalanche, or fiery spume!

Countless torments have ascended to heaven, and many hands have been raised in prayer when dark fate approached like a whirlwind, avalanche, or fiery foam.

_The speaker reflects on the universal human response of prayer in the face of overwhelming fate._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_8_se/chapters/fate
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_8_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_8_se/chapters