Count that day lost

George Eliot

George Eliot’s poem “Count That Day Lost” was published posthumously in 1887.

Known by her pen name George Eliot, Mary Ann Evans was born on 22 November 1819 in Nuneaton, Warwickshire, England, and she died on 22 December 1880 in Chelsea, London, England, at the age of 61.

Eliot was a novelist, poet, journalist, and translator. She wrote seven novels. Like Dickens and Hardy, she emerged from provincial England, and her works are known for their realism, psychological insight, sense of place and detailed depiction of the countryside.

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Posted: 4 April 2023
Word length: 88
Video length: 1:46

If you sit down at set of sun And count the acts that you have done, And, counting, find One self-denying deed, one word That eased the heart of him who heard, One glance most kind That fell like sunshine where it went —  Then you may count that day well spent.

But if, through all the livelong day, You’ve cheered no heart, by yea or nay —  If, through it all You’ve nothing done that you can trace That brought the sunshine to one face —  No act most small That helped some soul and nothing cost —  Then count that day as worse than lost.

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