15+ Striking Poems about Regret

(15 to start, 250+ to explore)

The theme of regret in poetry explores sorrow, repentance, and a longing for what might have been. These poems often tell stories of missed opportunities, wrong choices, or lost loves.

Robert Frost’s ‘The Road Not Taken‘ is a renowned example, contemplating the choices made and the paths left unexplored. The tone can be melancholic and reflective, using imagery that conveys a sense of loss or yearning. Such poetry invites readers to examine their own past and the feelings of regret that may linger there.

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"> 91/100

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.

Regret is the central theme. Rossetti's speaker acknowledges past mistakes, from "sleeping at noon" to neglecting her garden. This introspection serves as a cautionary tale about the importance of seizing opportunities.

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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Carpe Diem

by Robert Frost

‘Carpe Diem’ by Robert Frost is a poem that encourages the reader to live in the present and comments on people’s tendency to focus on the past and the future instead.

Regret is a central emotion in 'Carpe Diem,' as the poem reflects on the missed opportunities to fully embrace happiness in the present. The speaker’s acknowledgment of this common human failing evokes a deep sense of regret, highlighting the poignancy of time’s passage and the moments lost to inattention.

Age saw two quiet children

Go loving by at twilight,

He knew not whether homeward,

Or outward from the village,

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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.

This poem explores many different themes, but ultimately, it is about regret. Maud Muller and the judge's different social standings may create the boundaries that make their love an unrequited one, but their idealized perceptions of what might have been fuel the conflict in this tragic tale.

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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My Mother Would Be a Falconress

by Robert Duncan

‘My Mother Would Be a Falconress’ by Robert Duncan explores a son and mother’s relationship through the lens of a falcon breaking free from his handler.

The speaker's regret of turning against his mother and angrily breaking free from her grasp drive this poem. However, the speaker never finds a resolution, always floundering between his conviction that he needed to break free and his guilt for hurting and abandoning his now-deceased mother. The intensity of this regret makes this poem very emotional and powerful.

My mother would be a falconress,

And I, her gay falcon treading her wrist,

would fly to bring back

from the blue of the sky to her, bleeding, a prize,

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The Minotaur

by Ted Hughes

‘The Minotaur’ by Ted Hughes explores familial strife, emotional turmoil, and the cyclical nature of violence within relationships.

It evokes the emotion of regret through its poignant exploration of past actions and their consequences. The characters' reflections on missed opportunities and irreversible mistakes evoke a sense of sorrow and remorse. Vivid imagery and introspective language amplify the weight of their regrets, inviting readers to empathize with their profound sense of loss and longing for redemption.

The mahogany table-top you smashed

Had been the broad plank top

Of my mother's heirloom sideboard-

Mapped with the scars of my whole life.

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Childhood

by Frances Cornford

‘Childhood’ explores the transitory moment when a child becomes aware of the passing of time, and the process of growing old.

Whilst the speaker does not regret having aged, they long for the innocence of childhood. This regret is resonant in the speaker's voice while she talks about the incident that happened in her childhood.

I used to think that grown-up people chose

To have stiff backs and wrinkles round their nose,

And veins like small fat snakes on either hand,

On purpose to be grand.

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What now?

by Gary Soto

‘What Now?’ by Gary Soto is a contemporary poem that speaks to the universal experience of aging and learning.

This poem evokes the emotion of regret by contrasting the sense of wonder and magic associated with shooting stars in the speaker's childhood with the mundane realities of adulthood. The shift in focus from looking upward to the road ahead suggests a missed opportunity to appreciate and hold onto the short-lived moments of enchantment fully. This contrast hints at a sense of regret for the loss of innocence and the passage of time.

Where did the shooting stars go?

They flit across my childhood sky

vAnd by my teens I no longer looked upward—

My face instead peered through the windshield

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When I Was Fair and Young

by Queen Elizabeth I

The poem ‘When I Was Fair and Young’ by Queen Elizabeth I describes pride’s consequences, regret, and redemption through the intervention of love.

The poem causes the feeling of regret because the speaker contemplates the deeds that have been done in the past. At the beginning of the poem, she is arrogant and contemptuous of any suitor, but she changes her mind in the middle of the poem and regrets her lost chances of finding love. Finally, her apologies and emotional turmoil suggest that the protagonist, despite her previous haughtiness, regrets her actions and is penitent, which also strengthens the readers’ empathy towards her character and actions.

When I was fair and young, then favor graced me.

Of many was I sought their mistress for to be.

But I did scorn them all and answered them therefore:

Go, go, go, seek some other where; importune me no more.

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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.

The speaker regretfully expresses how the past actions of his youth have resulted in the condition of his body. No doubt, he was are-struck at the inherent vitality of his body. As soon as it started to deteriorate due to the condition he was suffering from, he felt vulnerable and weak.

I wake up cold, I who

Prospered through dreams of heat

Wake to their residue,

Sweat, and a clinging sheet.

#10

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The River

by Sara Teasdale

‘The River’ by Sara Teasdale narrates the poignant merging of the river in the sea from the personified river’s perspective.

The river's regret shapes the emotional landscape of the poem, turning it from cheerful to gloomy. Upon learning about the sea's darkness, the river regrets her decision to travel and intermingle with it. The river's regret symbolizes the regret one feels upon the significant decisions made in naivety, particularly those that are life-altering and irreversible. The poem depicts the emotional state of regret as the river first tries in vain to reverse her decision by crying out to the valleys and then narrates her ordeal of losing her essence and turning bitter, accentuating the pain and sadness of regret that stays on like a lingering ache longing for the lost life and choice.

I came from the sunny valleys

And sought for the open sea,

For I thought in its gray expanses

My peace would come to me.

#11

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To E. T.

by Robert Frost

‘To E.T.’ processes the lingering grief and regret caused by a friend’s death via an expression of loving admiration.

Regret permeates the poem, stemming from the speaker’s grief over the sudden death of their friend. The reason for this is because of the words left unsaid between them: having never articulated to Thomas how much they admire them, they feel a deep sense of loss over the missed opportunity. Although they know it's impossible, their regret is compounded by the fact that the speaker’s words can no longer reach their friend.

I slumbered with your poems on my breast

Spread open as I dropped them half-read through

Like dove wings on a figure on a tomb

To see, if in a dream they brought of you,

#12

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A Poem For Mother

by Robin Ngangom

‘A Poem For Mother’ by Robin S. Ngangom contains the speaker’s regret for how he has lived. He feels his mother should not be proud of him.

Regret is one of the major emotions readers will sense within this poem. The speaker feels regret when he considers his youth and how he behaved, causing his mother problems. He also feels regret for having left home ten years ago and abandoned his mother to continue living a hard, thankless life. He even asks for her forgiveness in this poem.

Palem Apokpi, mother who gave birth to me,

to be a man how I hated leaving home

ten years ago. Now these hills

#13

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Slow and reluctant was the long descent

by George Santayana

‘Slow and reluctant was the long descent’ by George Santayana elucidates the bittersweetness of undertaking a solo journey and finding solace in one’s tranquil environment.

The poem's very first line establishes the speaker's reluctance to embark on their journey. This eventually grows into a kind of regret as they start to develop "dumb misgivings" about their path. Although the poem is ambiguous about the exact source of these feelings, they do touch on a recognizable dread that comes with starting a journey, especially when done alone.

Slow and reluctant was the long descent,

With many farewell pious looks behind,

And dumb misgivings where the path might wind,

And questionings of nature, as I went.

#14

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In Memory of the Utah Stars

by William Matthews

‘In Memory of the Utah Stars’ captures the manner in which memories can provide us with both pleasure and pain.

The narrator understandably regrets the fact the team was disbanded but, given they could not prevent that, their true regret appears to be not cherishing the good moments more when they were happening.

Each of them must have terrified

his parents by being so big, obsessive

and exact so young, already gone

and leaving, like a big tipper,

#15

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A Dead Rose

by Elizabeth Barrett Browning

‘A Dead Rose’ mourns the short-lived nature of beauty, with vivid imagery and poignant emotions.

Elizabeth Barrett Browning's poem 'A Dead Rose' evokes the emotion of regret through its contrasting descriptions of the rose's past and present states. The use of vivid imagery and sensory details highlights the loss of the rose's former beauty and vitality. This contrast between what once was and what is now generating a sense of longing and sorrow, stirring feelings of regret for the fleeting nature of life and the inability to preserve beauty indefinitely.

O Rose! who dares to name thee?

No longer roseate now, nor soft, nor sweet;

But pale, and hard, and dry, as stubble-wheat,—-

Kept seven years in a drawer—-thy titles shame thee.

Home » Collection » Poems about Regret

15+ Striking Poems about Regret

(15 to start, 250+ to explore)

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15+ Striking Poems about Regret

(15 to start, 250+ to explore)

by Christina Rossetti

by Robert Frost

by John Greenleaf Whittier

by Robert Duncan

by Ted Hughes

by Frances Cornford

by Gary Soto

by Queen Elizabeth I

by Thom Gunn

by Sara Teasdale

by Robert Frost

by Robin Ngangom

by George Santayana

by William Matthews

by Elizabeth Barrett Browning

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