“For of all sad words of tongue or pen, The saddest are these: “It might have been!””
- Source
- Maud Muller
- Date
- 1854
- Attribution
- Source identified
- Voice / speaker
- Poetic speaker · Narrator of “Maud Muller”
What does this quote mean?
Whittier compresses regret into the imagined alternative life: both Maud and the Judge later measure their ordinary lives against a possibility neither chose when they briefly met.
Where does it come from?
“Maud Muller,” in The Works of Whittier, Volume I, Project Gutenberg #9567. The poem first shows both characters imagining the life they might have shared, then calls “It might have been” the saddest formulation before ending with a separate note of hope.
Who voices the line?
Poetic speaker · Narrator of “Maud Muller”. The narrator closes the imagined parallel lives of Maud and the Judge with this reflection on missed possibility before the poem turns toward a final note of hope.
The source author and the local speaker can be different, especially in fiction, drama, dialogue and poetry.
How should this attribution be read?
This wording is connected with the named source shown above. Translations and editions can vary, so consult the source note when exact wording matters.