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Tears, idle tears, I know not what they mean, Tears from the depth of some divine… — Alfred Tennyson

Poem

Tears, idle tears, I know not what they mean, Tears from the depth of some divine despair Rise in the heart, and gather to the eyes, In looking on the happy Autumn-fields, And thinking of the days that are no more.

Alfred Tennyson
The Princess · 1847
★ 3.5
Other tags relating to this quote
Topic
Looking backChanging of seasonsPassage of timeMelancholy
Medium
Poem
Time
1847
Person
Alfred Tennyson
Provenance
Current citation
Tennyson, Alfred, Lord. "The Princess." Alfred Tennyson: The Major Works, edited by Adam Roberts. Oxford University Press, 2009, pt. 4.
Original citation
Tennyson, Alfred. The Princess. London: Edward Moxon, 1847, pt. 4.

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It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way—in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.

Charles Dickens
A Tale of Two Cities · 1859
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