The saddest words...

[Nikos Sarantakos]

The saddest words of tongue or pen are
"It might have been"

I have seen many times this quotation mentioned, but never have
I seen it attributed to a named person. Who wrote it?
(and, what is its exact form?)

Thanks in advance
Nikos Sarantakos

[Xjr3000]

sar...@village.uunet.lu (Nikos Sarantakos) asked:

John Greenleaf Whittier (1807-1892) wrote it as:

For of all the sad words of tongue or pen,
The saddest are these: "It might have been."
-Maud Miller, stanza 53

The rest of the poem is not half as good as these lines,
nor for that matter, is the rest of Whittier.
Correction: _Lines Inscribed for Friends Under Arrest For Treason Against the
Slave Power_ is one of the great political broadsides. Whittier did exemplary
service for the Abolitionist
cause.

Who never wins can rarely lose,
Who never climbs as rarely falls.
-J G Whittier, _To James T Fields_

[Ed C]

Nikos Sarantakos wrote:
>
> The saddest words of tongue or pen are
>
>

> Thanks in advance
> Nikos Sarantakos

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

John Greenleaf Whittier (1807-1892), poet in _Maud Muller_(1856)

Ed

[Scott Hutchens]

In a similar vien:

"Don't fear failure so much that you refuse to try new things. The
saddest summary of a life contains three descriptions: could have,
might have, and should have."
-- Louis E. Boone

Scott

------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Scott Hutchens \ "Life is playing a violin solo in public and /
| sco...@cs.mun.ca \ learning the instrument as one goes on." /
| \ -- Samuel Butler /
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[DrPeeGee]

re: "The rest of the poem is not half as good as these lines, nor for that

matter, is the rest of Whittier."

I doubt that the writer has read the rest of Whittier. I still remember and
hear quoted "The Angels of Buena Vista," "In School Days," " Barbara
Frietchie," etc. He has brought joy and beauty to many. Today's sophisticates
may shun him; tomorrow's will re-discover him.

[Kenneth S.]

I wish it were true that sophisticates have decided to shun
Whittier. Unfortunately, as is clear from some of the questions in
this news group, the great majority know nothing of Whittier or of any
other literary figures. To shun him, they'd first have to have heard
of him.

[Xjr3000]

drpe...@aol.com (DrPeeGee) wrote:

>re: "The rest of the poem is not half as good as these lines, >nor for that
>matter, is the rest of Whittier."
>
>I doubt that the writer has read the rest of Whittier.

I have, in fact, read most of Whittier and I based my judgment on that
reading. But as Mark Twain said, "It is not best that we all think alike; it
is difference of opinion that makes horseraces." (_Pudd'nhead Wilson_, XIX,
1894).

-Jay

-Jay