Yesterday and Tomorrow

John Boyle O'Reilly 1844 (Dowth) – 1890 (Boston)



JOYS have three stages, Hoping, Having, and Had:
The hands of Hope are empty, and the heart of Having is sad;
For the joy we take, in the taking dies; and the joy we Had is its ghost.
Now, which is the better—the joy unknown or the joy we have clasped and lost?

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

16 sec read
41

Quick analysis:

Scheme AABC
Closest metre Iambic octameter
Characters 270
Words 55
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 4

John Boyle O'Reilly

John Boyle O'Reilly was an Irish-born poet, journalist and fiction writer. more…

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    "Yesterday and Tomorrow" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 20 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/22112/yesterday-and-tomorrow>.

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