quote · Legacy record
We look before and after, / And pine for what is not; / E'en our sincerest laughter / With some pain is fraught; / Our sweetest songs are those which tell of saddest thought.
We look before and after, / And pine for what is not; / E'en our sincerest laughter / With some pain is fraught; / Our sweetest songs are those which tell of saddest thought.
Approximate author period: c. 1807 AD · industrial
Meaning not yet available
An individual explanation has not yet been added. We do not substitute a generic description for an interpretation of these particular words.
Begin with source-checked readings and explanations ↗Attribution & collection notes
- Author or tradition
- Percy Bysshe Shelley
Attribution: attributed - Country attributed
- Not established
A country attribution does not establish the earliest origin. - Historical period
- Approximate author period: c. 1807 AD · industrial
author lifetime midpoint (1792–1822)
An author lifetime, approximate period or collection date is not necessarily the date when these words were first written or spoken. - Recorded source
- Dictionary of Quotations (1893) (1893 AD)
Printed citation: Shelley. · page_525
A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.