How many times we must have met
Here on the street as strangers do,
Children of chance we were, who passed
The door of heaven and never knew.
Love Poem by Sara Teasdale
Meaning of the Poem ‘Chance’ by Sara Teasdale
Sara Teasdale’s ‘Chance’ reflects on the fleeting, unnoticed intersections of fate, where two people – strangers – unknowingly miss the opportunity for love. The speaker realises that she and another must have crossed paths many times, “children of chance,” unaware that they might have shared something extraordinary.
The poem’s quiet tragedy lies in the idea that they “passed the door of heaven and never knew”: a metaphor for the missed possibility of deep connection or love that was never recognised or acted upon. It is a poignant meditation on the mystery of destiny and the tender ache of what might have been.
