Luck Is Not Chance

Luck Is Not Chance - meaning Summary

Effort Defines Good Fortune

Dickinson’s short poem argues that what people call luck is not random but the result of work and effort. She contrasts the romantic idea of Fortune’s “smile” with the practical reality that rewards are earned. The closing image — the father of the mine being an old-fashioned coin the speaker says we spurned — suggests a skeptical view of sentimental notions of providence and a recognition that material labor and deliberate investment produce outcomes often mislabeled as luck. The tone is direct and didactic, reframing success as consequence rather than chance.