From "Maud Muller"

For of all sad words of tongue or pen,
The saddest are these: "It might have been!"

Ah, well! for us all some sweet hope lies
Deeply buried from human eyes;

And, in the hereafter, angels may
Roll the stone from its grave away!

John Greenleaf Whittier (1807–1892)

American Poetry: The Nineteenth Century (1993), ed. John Hollander, Volume One, p. 462.

Complete poem here.

Lane Core Jr. CIW P — Thu. 07/17/08 09:21:21 PM
Categorized as Literary.