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Poetry #9
Incredible Good Fortune: New Poems
Incredible Good Fortune is Ursula K. Le Guin's sixth collection of poems, spanning the years 2000 to 2005. These poems by the celebrated author of Always Coming Home and The Language of the Night showcase Le Guin's many facets as a writer. Passionate, humanitarian, and sensuously aware of the world's vitality, Le Guin's work can also be melancholy, playful, and dreamlike. Full of insight, humor, and wisdom, this collection includes close observations of day-to-day life, reflections on childhood and growing older, and explorations of myth and fable.
144 pages, Hardcover
First published March 14, 2006
4 people are currently reading
226 people want to read
About the author
Ursula K. Le Guin
1,051 books30.6k followersUrsula K. Le Guin published twenty-two novels, eleven volumes of short stories, four collections of essays, twelve books for children, six volumes of poetry and four of translation, and has received many awards: Hugo, Nebula, National Book Award, PEN-Malamud, etc. Her recent publications include the novel Lavinia, an essay collection, Cheek by Jowl, and The Wild Girls. She lived in Portland, Oregon.
She was known for her treatment of gender (The Left Hand of Darkness, The Matter of Seggri), political systems (The Telling, The Dispossessed) and difference/otherness in any other form. Her interest in non-Western philosophies was reflected in works such as "Solitude" and The Telling but even more interesting are her imagined societies, often mixing traits extracted from her profound knowledge of anthropology acquired from growing up with her father, the famous anthropologist, Alfred Kroeber. The Hainish Cycle reflects the anthropologist's experience of immersing themselves in new strange cultures since most of their main characters and narrators (Le Guin favoured the first-person narration) are envoys from a humanitarian organization, the Ekumen, sent to investigate or ally themselves with the people of a different world and learn their ways.
She was known for her treatment of gender (The Left Hand of Darkness, The Matter of Seggri), political systems (The Telling, The Dispossessed) and difference/otherness in any other form. Her interest in non-Western philosophies was reflected in works such as "Solitude" and The Telling but even more interesting are her imagined societies, often mixing traits extracted from her profound knowledge of anthropology acquired from growing up with her father, the famous anthropologist, Alfred Kroeber. The Hainish Cycle reflects the anthropologist's experience of immersing themselves in new strange cultures since most of their main characters and narrators (Le Guin favoured the first-person narration) are envoys from a humanitarian organization, the Ekumen, sent to investigate or ally themselves with the people of a different world and learn their ways.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews
October 24, 2025
Ursula K Le Guin's nature poems, mostly set in the Pacific Northeast, are lovely. Her interest in the Mount Saint Helens volcano prompted me to find more of her poems about that event online. The collection also has poems about aging, mythology, and war. She also included a section of poems about a cruise to Baja and the Caribbean via the Panama Canal.
Le Guin noted in her introduction that she is part of a writing group where every month the poets write in response to a prompt. Sometimes the exercises involve meter and form, and other times the prompt is in subject matter. There are several poems in the book that seem more awkward, probably written to fulfill a prompt.
I wish that Goodreads had a way for me to give this book 3.5 stars, but I'll round it up to 4 stars.
Le Guin noted in her introduction that she is part of a writing group where every month the poets write in response to a prompt. Sometimes the exercises involve meter and form, and other times the prompt is in subject matter. There are several poems in the book that seem more awkward, probably written to fulfill a prompt.
I wish that Goodreads had a way for me to give this book 3.5 stars, but I'll round it up to 4 stars.
February 16, 2018
3.5. This was really mixed for me - I desperately wanted to love all of the poems, but only a few resonated with me.
May 15, 2024
i wrote down a few of these to return to in my notes. i’m beginning to really treasure everything ursula has offered to the world and i want to consume as much of her as i can.
June 28, 2016
Fantastic, playful crone poems!
"I am boring, I am bored.
Ha ha I say to joy, ha ha to grief."
"I am boring, I am bored.
Ha ha I say to joy, ha ha to grief."
Read
February 7, 2015I read a lot of poetry and a lot of books by Ursula Le Guin, so it's rather surprising that I haven't read a book of her poetry until now. I enjoyed many of the poems in this collection (but not all of them)--in both verse and prose, she can stir emotion and paint a scene with a beautiful and feminine economy of words. Some of the poems in this book are about translating Virgil, connecting with her book Lavinia (which I read last month). I'm very much in love with connections between prose and poetry as well as between old and new texts. I was impressed with her love of and use of silence and song in many places.
Somewhat coincidentally, all the books I've read this year have been by female authors, and they have spanned many of the genres I usually read--poetry, SF/F, classic lit, and nonfiction. I have read some poems, essays, and excerpts of fiction by men, and I will have to read a male-authored book soon for my TA-ship, but it's interesting to see how many books by women I read in a row without really trying to read only women.
Somewhat coincidentally, all the books I've read this year have been by female authors, and they have spanned many of the genres I usually read--poetry, SF/F, classic lit, and nonfiction. I have read some poems, essays, and excerpts of fiction by men, and I will have to read a male-authored book soon for my TA-ship, but it's interesting to see how many books by women I read in a row without really trying to read only women.
July 18, 2008
Sinewy, strong, beauteous poems.
August 11, 2023
Le Guin's writing never fails to inspire. I have been transported by her fiction and awed by her essays, but if I'd previously sampled her poetry, it had been in isolated occurrences. After a particularly enjoyable advisory conversation with a patron, one in which we were reminded that Le Guin considered herself first, foremost, and last a poet, I wasted not a moment in identifying which of her collections would be my next experience. This did not disappoint.
I adore her craft with language, the way her words and phrasing seem to dance not only on the tongue and ear but also in the mind. She is graceful and purposeful and strong without being showy. The fact that many of these works stemmed from writing exercises, ones that dictated structure or meter or theme, only served to make this former instructor's heart glow more deeply. I've long had a weakness for the beauty that can emerge from what others may see as 'restrictions'; the creativity and intention this asks is multiplied, and that shines forth even more brightly when the writer successfully rises to the occasion.
Two of my personal favorites:
Nine Lines, August 9
The gold of evening is closing,
drawing in, tightening.
The light is losing. It is
a little frightening
how fast August goes.
Others have noticed this.
The cat on his concealed switchblade toes
comes by, and what he says
is silent, but enlightening.
English
I love my native language
the lovely viola
the great advantage
a mouthful of pebbles
a welling of water
crashbangs faint echoes
the word if you can find it
for what it is and
what is beyond it
I adore her craft with language, the way her words and phrasing seem to dance not only on the tongue and ear but also in the mind. She is graceful and purposeful and strong without being showy. The fact that many of these works stemmed from writing exercises, ones that dictated structure or meter or theme, only served to make this former instructor's heart glow more deeply. I've long had a weakness for the beauty that can emerge from what others may see as 'restrictions'; the creativity and intention this asks is multiplied, and that shines forth even more brightly when the writer successfully rises to the occasion.
Two of my personal favorites:
Nine Lines, August 9
The gold of evening is closing,
drawing in, tightening.
The light is losing. It is
a little frightening
how fast August goes.
Others have noticed this.
The cat on his concealed switchblade toes
comes by, and what he says
is silent, but enlightening.
English
I love my native language
the lovely viola
the great advantage
a mouthful of pebbles
a welling of water
crashbangs faint echoes
the word if you can find it
for what it is and
what is beyond it
February 21, 2019
It takes me so long to finish even a slim poetry book -- if I read more than two or three poems at a time, I begin not to be able to appreciate them.
I really enjoyed this, especially when the Note To the Reader informed me that many of them had been written as exercises in form or meter with her writer's group. That may be why the poems have a feel, to me, of a writer trying to produce abundantly, rather than being a perfectionist. (Of course, for all I know, she wrote a thousand poems to get this hundred -- but they feel more breezy than worked-over.)
This is part of a three-part poem, "Up In a Cottonwood":
I really enjoyed this, especially when the Note To the Reader informed me that many of them had been written as exercises in form or meter with her writer's group. That may be why the poems have a feel, to me, of a writer trying to produce abundantly, rather than being a perfectionist. (Of course, for all I know, she wrote a thousand poems to get this hundred -- but they feel more breezy than worked-over.)
This is part of a three-part poem, "Up In a Cottonwood":
Indignant indolence.
Wrath gone all downy.
An awful gold round glare
shut halfway to pure contempt.
Birdwatchers.
Someone should remove them.
If they were smaller
If it were evening
I would see to it.
And presently
issue a pellet containing their bones.
June 19, 2017
There are some gems here, that I'm glad I discovered, but the poems are a bit uneven all in all. I had difficulty getting through this collection, even though the poems are short and it's a short collection.
August 22, 2018
These were... okay.
She says in the intro that a lot of these were practices or assignments for her poetry group. They feel like practice. Nothing too engaging, unfortunately. I had high hopes.
I liked two or three?
She says in the intro that a lot of these were practices or assignments for her poetry group. They feel like practice. Nothing too engaging, unfortunately. I had high hopes.
I liked two or three?
Read
July 10, 2021I don’t think I can really fairly give this book a rating. These poems weren’t for me, but I don’t think that means they were bad either. It’s just not the style or subject of poems that I typically enjoy. Lots of rhyme and some use of loose form, and a lot of landscape and shorter pieces.
March 13, 2019
Having read only her prose, (and being a major fan) it was a treat to see how Le Guin's writing on nature, gender, mythology and philosophy translate to poetry.
October 1, 2019
A nice little volume of poems by St. Ursula.
April 6, 2023
Great Gut Granny on the alto saxophone!!!!
Read
September 11, 2023Read a little bit. I'm sure they're good, I just can't get into poetry no matter how much I try...
January 21, 2024
What an absolute delight this book was. Wonderfully comfy and fun poetry with a beautiful ear for sound and rhythm.
January 30, 2024
I liked some of these.
April 10, 2024
Tonight to be entire: the East and West,
wind-driven spar and entered air,
rough hollow hand and full soft breast,
mouth, teeth, tongue, and juicy pear.
May 27, 2024
It's just not very good poetry
June 1, 2012
I've been dragging my feet on this one. It took me three weeks to finish because I knew I would be reviewing it and ... sadly, I didn't like it much. The author states in the Note to the Reader that many of these poems were written in response to assignments in her poetry group, and I think that shows. It's partly the mix of forms which makes it hard to get a handle on the poet's true style, but it's more than that. There are so many that I found unconvincing; I just couldn't believe she cared about them. Many have good ideas, some have vivid imagery and a few have strong rhythms, but those three things rarely came together in a single poem. Some had a few lines I liked but others which spoiled the total effect. The last line of "The Lorelei to Heinrich Heine," for instance, struck me as clumsy and sophomoric:
when I sit lonely in the sun
and comb my hair and comb my hair
till there comes by another one,
some boy a mother had,
to sink with me and die.
O why am I so sad?"
There were poems I couldn't quite get my mouth around, wondering how is this supposed to sound? I grew bored by lists and shook my head at the simple declarative sentences such as these in "Peace Vigil, March, 2003" describing a man who
wandered into the circle and stood
looking around, till somebody
spoke to him, somebody gave him
a candle, somebody lighted the candle.
Then he sat down on the wet pavement
right in the empty center of the circle.
He sat huddled up over the candle,
holding it in one hand and holding
the other hand over it to get warm, and then
he would change hands.
There were, on the other hand, poems I liked very much such as "Nobody" and "The Shiksa" My joyful Jew, my jubilant Jew/my young King David, an ear so true,/I would have given the world for you and this tiny one which reminded me of Edna St. Vincent Millay.
"On Hemlock Street"
I see broad shoulders,
a silver head,
and I think: John!
And I think: dead.
I think the collection was an interesting experiment for the author but less rewarding for the reader.
when I sit lonely in the sun
and comb my hair and comb my hair
till there comes by another one,
some boy a mother had,
to sink with me and die.
O why am I so sad?"
There were poems I couldn't quite get my mouth around, wondering how is this supposed to sound? I grew bored by lists and shook my head at the simple declarative sentences such as these in "Peace Vigil, March, 2003" describing a man who
wandered into the circle and stood
looking around, till somebody
spoke to him, somebody gave him
a candle, somebody lighted the candle.
Then he sat down on the wet pavement
right in the empty center of the circle.
He sat huddled up over the candle,
holding it in one hand and holding
the other hand over it to get warm, and then
he would change hands.
There were, on the other hand, poems I liked very much such as "Nobody" and "The Shiksa" My joyful Jew, my jubilant Jew/my young King David, an ear so true,/I would have given the world for you and this tiny one which reminded me of Edna St. Vincent Millay.
"On Hemlock Street"
I see broad shoulders,
a silver head,
and I think: John!
And I think: dead.
I think the collection was an interesting experiment for the author but less rewarding for the reader.
December 6, 2015
It becomes clear to me, reading this, that Le Guin has more fun writing poetry than anyone else. Probably more fun writing it than most people have reading it.
They're highly structured and lyrical, more about the music and rhythm of language than they are about anything specific.
A fun collection by one of my favorite fiction writers. Planning on checking out a lot of her poetry, most as an exercise of enjoyment.
So much poetry I read these last ten years has been highly experimental in style, so it's nice and comforting to return to a more classic rhythm and cadence.
They're highly structured and lyrical, more about the music and rhythm of language than they are about anything specific.
A fun collection by one of my favorite fiction writers. Planning on checking out a lot of her poetry, most as an exercise of enjoyment.
So much poetry I read these last ten years has been highly experimental in style, so it's nice and comforting to return to a more classic rhythm and cadence.
September 27, 2012
I am a poetry reader and I read Le Guin on a regular basis. So when I saw this book in the library catalog, I figured it was a natural for me. I couldn't see how this could miss. Well, maybe it is not the right time for me to read this. Whatever the reason, I did not particularly like this book. None of the poems caught my ear or much of my attention.
I am disappointed - in me, not Ursula Le Guin.
I am disappointed - in me, not Ursula Le Guin.
May 22, 2012
I greatly enjoy Le Guin's prose, so I was happy to find she's just as good of a poet as she is a novelist and short story writer. There's a great variety of wisdom and insight in this book and I just have to recommend it to anyone who's read "The Left Hand of Darkness," or any of her short pieces or other novels, for further insight to just how goddamn talented this woman is. Beautiful book.
October 16, 2010
Blah. Old lady poetry. Basically, "Emotional Adventures in Nature for the Senile."
May 24, 2011
A good collection, if somewhat uneven. The cruise poems completely lost me; I think I like le Guin's poetry better when it addresses subjects similar to her fiction. But worth the read, for me.
May 19, 2012
Insightful poetry. Nice images.
July 29, 2015
These were not bad. I always find it interesting when an author I know from one genre, pops up in a completely different one.
April 18, 2016
Ursula K. Le Guin's poetry is so good that I felt like I could vomit glorious, glorious rainbow streamers of delight at any moment, at each new facet observed. GAAAAAHHHH...she's amazingk.
April 23, 2010
At the Feast in the Great Hall
was my favorite.
was my favorite.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews