15+ Must-Read Poems on Disappointment

(15 to start, 500+ to explore)

These poignant poems about disappointment navigate the emotional landscape of setbacks and heartaches. They offer solace and understanding to those who have experienced disappointment, expressing empathy and wisdom.

Disappointment poems may describe the heaviness of shattered expectations or the vulnerability of feeling let down. These verses remind us that disappointment is a natural part of life and encourage resilience in adversity.

They carry the hope that even amid disappointment, new beginnings and brighter days can emerge.

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"> 92/100

A Daughter of Eve

by Christina Rossetti

‘A Daughter of Eve’ by Christina Rossetti is a heartbreaking poem in which the speaker considers what she’s missed out on in life.

The poem is steeped in a sense of disappointment, with the speaker reflecting on past choices. The neglected garden and the shift from summer to winter highlight the sorrow of unfulfilled potential, and her lost chances. More than anything else, readers can feel this intense sense of disappointment in this piece.

A fool I was to sleep at noon,

And wake when night is chilly

Beneath the comfortless cold moon;

A fool to pluck my rose too soon,

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Loving Someone You Can't Have

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Maud Muller

by John Greenleaf Whittier

‘Maud Muller’ by John Greenleaf Whittier is a classic narrative ballad that recounts how the poor peasant, Maud, and an urban judge fantasize about getting married and living together. However, neither of them ever takes action, which fills their lives with regret.

Both Maud Muller and the judge in this poem keep their love for each other a secret, but they are constantly disappointed by reality and use each other as a mental escape from their dissatisfying lives. Now that they are older, all they can hope is that, maybe, in another life, they can finally be happy with what they have.

God pity them both! and pity us all,

Who vainly the dreams of youth recall.

For of all sad words of tongue or pen,

The saddest are these: “It might have been!”

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The Tables Turned

by William Wordsworth

Wordsworth’s ‘The Tables Turned’ asks readers to quit books and rediscover the natural world’s beauty and wisdom.

Wordsworth critiques what many scholars live for in terms of analyzing knowledge in books. He is disappointed in the over-analyzed terminology and the complicated concepts that distract from the more considerable informational achievements one might be able to accomplish if not so stuck in the details. He mentions that books are too narrow and often do not show the truth about humanity, but that nature shows the reality of the human spirit. The reader feels Wordsworth's disappointment that they are reading the poem instead of watching a bird on a tree branch.

Up! up! my Friend, and quit your books;

Or surely you'll grow double:

Up! up! my Friend, and clear your looks;

Why all this toil and trouble?

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Anorexic

by Eavan Boland

‘Anorexic’ by Eavan Boland presents a woman determined to destroy her physical body through starvation while alluding to the original sin.

One of the most important themes in Boland’s poem is a woman’s disappointment with her own body. She is so frustrated with her body that she terms it a “witch,” and sometimes a “bitch.” She does not stop here but continues to scorch it by denying it enough food and rest.

Flesh is heretic.

My body is a witch.

I am burning it.

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Not Waving but Drowning

by Stevie Smith

Stevie Smith’s ‘Not Waving but Drowning’ is a tragic account of a dead man whose cry for help is mistakenly regarded as a mere greeting.

One of the important themes of this piece is miscommunication and the ensuing disappointment. The “dead man” of Smith’s poem or the poet herself is largely misunderstood. He distanced himself from the rest of the crowd so much so that in his time of need, he failed to get any help. This leads to a sense of disappointment even when he is long dead.

Nobody heard him, the dead man,

But still he lay moaning:

I was much further out than you thought

And not waving but drowning.

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Loving Someone You Can't Have

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"> 86/100

The Spring

by Thomas Carew

‘The Spring’ by Thomas Carew is a poem about unrequited love in spring. The poet mourns the fact that no matter the season, his beloved does not love him.

This piece is about a dejected speaker, who rather finds it pleasing to appreciate the melting snows of winter, rejuvenating animal life, and greenery. Even though his lover’s heart is fixated on “January,” he paces along with the rhythm of spring.

Now that the winter's gone, the earth hath lost

Her snow-white robes, and now no more the frost

Candies the grass, or casts an icy cream

Upon the silver lake or crystal stream;

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an afternoon nap

by Arthur Yap

‘an afternoon nap’ by Arthur Yap explores the lacunae in the modern education system and how it results in anxiety and stress in students.

In this piece, Yap delves into a mother's disappointment with her son's mediocre academic grades.

the ambitious mother across the road

is at it again. proclaming her goodness

she beats the boy. shouting out his wrongs, with raps

she begins with his mediocre report-book grades.

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Gone

by Henrik Ibsen

‘Gone’ by Henrik Ibsen is a sad but moving poem that illustrates the melancholy that arrives after one’s company has departed.

A theme found in the poem is disappointment. This is a byproduct of the speaker's unfulfilled desires, which leave them dismayed with their surroundings and remaining company. Again, Ibsen's diction and imagery both illustrate these intense feelings, as well as the dark gloomy atmosphere created by the night.

The last, late guest

To the gate we followed;

Goodbye — and the rest

The night-wind swallowed.

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Sonnet 129

by William Shakespeare

In ‘Sonnet 129,’ William Shakespeare describes the nature of lust and its effect on an individual’s mind and spirit.

The theme of disappointment is explored in the lines where the speaker talks about how sad and ashamed one feels after consummation. This feeling leads to a state that Shakespeare compares with hell.

The expense of spirit in a waste of shame

Is lust in action: and till action, lust

Is perjured, murderous, bloody, full of blame,

Savage, extreme, rude, cruel, not to trust,

#10

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Strange Meeting

by Wilfred Owen

‘Strange Meeting’ by Wilfred Owen explores soldiers’ disillusionment with war, their moral dilemma, and shared humanity.

The poem portrays the dismay of the soldiers who died in the war. The soldiers express disappointment over fighting the war while reflecting on the lies that glorify the war, showing disillusionment and profound despair after dying in a meaningless war. The poem's pessimistic meditation on the immense human loss and trauma of soldiers is stirring as lines like - 'save the undone years, The hopelessness. Whatever hope is yours, Was my life also' reflect the ruined future of the youth who fought in the war.

“I am the enemy you killed, my friend.

I knew you in this dark: for so you frowned

Yesterday through me as you jabbed and killed.

I parried; but my hands were loath and cold.

#11

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The Man with Night Sweats

by Thom Gunn

Gunn’s ‘The Man with Night Sweats’ contrasts past vitality with present fragility, capturing the intimate pain of AIDS.

This piece talks about the disappointment of a speaker who has night sweats. The speaker describes how once his body protected his soul as an armour and the more he suffered, the more robust he felt. When he was “gashed” by AIDS, his body was reduced and weakened, which, in turn, had a lasting imprint on his mind.

I wake up cold, I who

Prospered through dreams of heat

Wake to their residue,

Sweat, and a clinging sheet.

#12

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The Planners

by Boey Kim Cheng

‘The Planners’ by Boey Kim Cheng is a powerful poem about the way that development and the creation of new infrastructure makes the world a less interesting place to live in.

The theme of disappointment is an integral part of ‘The Planners’ by Boey Kim Cheng. In the last stanza, Cheng’s poetic persona voices his disappointment regarding their “past’s tomorrow,” which is unable to inspire him.

But my heart would not bleed

poetry. Not a single drop

to stain the blueprint

of our past's tomorrow.

#13

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To Life

by Thomas Hardy

‘To Life’ by Thomas Hardy is a deeply poignant poem that personifies life as a dreary individual whom the speaker accosts out of sadness.

A theme inherent to Thomas Hardy's poem is the disappointment that the speaker expresses when describing life. Throughout the poem, they criticize life for their bedraggled appearance, frustrated and deeply dismayed by life's appearance. This interaction between the speaker and a personification of life underscores the melancholic futility of raging against life's woes.

O Life with the sad seared face,

I weary of seeing thee,

And thy draggled cloak, and thy hobbling pace,

And thy too-forced pleasantry!

#14

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The Lost Generation

by Jonathan Reed

Jonathan Reed’s ‘The Lost Generation’ is a palindrome poem that utilizes an innovative approach in order to dictate the future course of the present generation.

This piece is written from the point of view of a first-person speaker who is disappointed with his generation. The theme of disappointment is best explored in the first few lines of the poem, in which the speaker expresses his outright refusal to change the world or to change himself.

I'm part of a Lost Generation

and I refuse to believe that

I can change the world.

I realize this may be a shock, but

"Happiness comes from within"

is a lie, and "Money will make me happy"

#15

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Eden Rock

by Charles Causley

‘Eden Rock’ evokes nostalgia, depicting a timeless picnic with his parents, blending memory with longing for familial unity.

In the last line, the speaker voices his disappointment regarding the fact that he cannot take part in the picnic with his late parents and he is unable to cross the stream in order to reach them either.

They are waiting for me somewhere beyond Eden Rock:

My father, twenty-five, in the same suit

Of Genuine Irish Tweed, his terrier Jack

Still two years old and trembling at his feet.

Home » Collection » Poems about Disappointment

15+ Must-Read Poems on Disappointment

(15 to start, 500+ to explore)

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15+ Must-Read Poems on Disappointment

(15 to start, 500+ to explore)

by Christina Rossetti

by John Greenleaf Whittier

by William Wordsworth

by Eavan Boland

by Stevie Smith

by Thomas Carew

by Arthur Yap

by Henrik Ibsen

by William Shakespeare

by Wilfred Owen

by Thom Gunn

by Boey Kim Cheng

by Thomas Hardy

by Jonathan Reed

by Charles Causley

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