Loss and Gain by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
The speaker finds little cause for pride when comparing losses and gains, recalling idle days and good intentions that fell short. Yet the speaker questions this reckoning, suggesting that defeat may conceal victory and a low point may signal a turn in fortune.
By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow · Genre: Reflective Poetry, Lyric Poetry · 112 words
First lines
When I compare / What I have lost with what I have gained, / What I have missed with what attained, / Little room do I find for pride.
I am aware / How many days have been idly spent; / How like an arrow the good intent / Has fallen short or been turned aside.
But who shall dare / To measure loss and gain in this wise? / Defeat may be victory in disguise; / The lowest ebb is the turn of the tide.
Genres
- Reflective Poetry — The speaker reviews losses, achievements, wasted days, and frustrated intentions before questioning how success and failure should be measured.
- Lyric Poetry — Three rhymed stanzas express a first-person movement from regret toward the possibility that apparent defeat conceals victory.
Tags
regret · failure · self-examination · hope
What this Textopian page supports
Loss and Gain is listed on Textopian as a poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, dated Date unknown.
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- Work type: Poem
- Author: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
- Date: Date unknown
- Language: English
- Genres: Reflective Poetry, Lyric Poetry
- Length: 112 words
- Structure: 1 section, 3 paragraphs
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