12 Poems About Regret
Be encouraged by these poems about regret. Many of us feel remorse at times. These poems speak to guilt, but they also help us learn, make things right when we can, and move forward with hope.
Regret can teach us, but it should not keep us stuck.
Updated January 20, 2026, by Catherine Pulsifer
Regret can be a heavy feeling, but it does not have to be the final word. Sometimes regret is a sign that we care and that we want to do better. It can guide us to apologize, to make a change, or to choose a wiser path next time.
As you read these poems, notice the message that comes up again and again. We cannot go back and rewrite yesterday, but we can choose what we do today. A small step forward can bring relief, peace, and a new outlook.
Might Have Been
Here's to "The days that might have been";
Here's to "The life I might have led";
The fame I might have gathered in--
The glory ways I might have sped.
Great "Might Have Been," I drink to you
Upon a throne where thousands hail--
And then--there looms another view--
I also "might have been" in jail.
O "Land of Might Have Been," we turn
With aching hearts to where you wait;
Where crimson fires of glory burn,
And laurel crowns the guarding gate;
We may not see across your fields
The sightless skulls that knew their woe--
The broken spears--the shattered shields--
That "might have been" as truly so.
"Of all sad words of tongue or pen"--
So wails the poet in his pain--
The saddest are, "It might have been,"
And world-wide runs the dull refrain.
The saddest? Yes--but in the jar
This thought brings to me with its curse,
I sometimes think the gladdest are
"It might have been a blamed sight worse."
To Wish
To wish you hadn't done a thing
Is not a good feeling
To be filled with remorse about this thing
Can hold you back from truly living
You can't go back and change the past
By doing this you're making mistakes last
Learn what you can and move on
Today is the breaking of a new dawn.
We all fall down at times
But regret should not be the chime
Start again this very day
Don't let yesterday's regret stay.
Facing The Future
Is the road very dreary?
Patience yet.
Rest will be sweeter if thou art a-weary,
And after night cometh the morning cheery;
Then bide a wee and dinna fret.
The clouds have silver lining,
Don't forget.
And though he's hidden, still the sun is shining;
Courage! instead of tears and vain repining,
Just bide a wee and dinna fret.
With toil and cares unending
Art beset?
Bethink thee how the storms, from heaven descending,
Snap the stiff oak, but spare the willow bending,
And bide a wee and dinna fret.
Grief sharper sting doth borrow
From regret;
But yesterday is gone, and shall its sorrow
Unfit us for the present and the morrow?
Nay; bide a wee and dinna fret.
An over-anxious brooding
Doth beget
A host of fears and fantasies deluding;
Then, brother, lest these torments be intruding,
Just bide a wee and dinna fret.
Regret Stalks When...
Let the truth of truth be said,
Regret stalks when procrastination is fed.
Each should rise with vigor and will,
Determined to perform tasks until fulfilled.
Unwillingness to persevere has doom in its wake,
Much of life's joy and hope thus we forsake.
Put off what could done today,
And hindered good fortune that could come your way.
May We So Live
May we soon learn,
That if we would make the day happy and worthwhile,
We must not seek our own pleasure and good,
But that of our brethren.
May we so live that when
The night shadows are again upon us,
There shall be no cause
For shame or regret.
The Other Fellow
Whose luck is better far than ours?
The other fellow's.
Whose road seems always lined with flowers?
The other fellow's.
Who is the man who seems to get
Most joy in life, with least regret,
Who always seems to win his bet?
The other fellow.
Who fills the place we think we'd like?
The other fellow.
Whom does good fortune always strike?
The other fellow.
Whom do we envy, day by day?
Who has more time than we to play?
Who is it, when we mourn, seems gay?
The other fellow.
Who seems to miss the thorns we find?
The other fellow.
Who seems to leave us all behind?
The other fellow.
Who never seems to feel the woe,
The anguish and the pain we know?
Who gets the best seats at the show?
The other fellow.
And yet, my friend, who envies you?
The other fellow.
Who thinks he gathers only rue?
The other fellow.
Who sighs because he thinks that he
Would infinitely happier he,
If he could be like you or me?
The other fellow.
Mistakes And Regret
We have the power
to decide our fate,
Though choices can be
difficult to make.
Life is full of lessons
to learn,
Some decisions causing
anguish that burns.
Sometimes we make
mistakes and regret,
But with courage forward
is the best bet.
For our future decisions
would be wiser,
When we gained knowledge
from these regret advisories.
Say I'm Sorry
Regrets can linger in our hearts,
We burden them they hold us down,
Things we did, words that were said,
Can all cause pain by the pound.
So say I'm sorry, apologize,
Ask forgiveness to right this wrong,
Don't carry regret and be content,
Let those feelings be gone.
Do Not Wait
Are there duties left undone?
Are there laurels to be won?
While the new year has begun,
Do not wait.
Is there someone's heart to cheer?
Have you made life's road less drear?
You've a chance in this new year.
Do not wait.
Have you left life's pages wet?
With the tears of some regret?
You've a few bright pages yet.
Do not wait.
Fill them full of lifes that true,
Scatter smiles when days look blue,
They'll reflect more light to you.
Do not wait.
Are your records just as bright
As you wish they were to-night?
You can make them nearer right.
Do not wait.
Don't Wallow In If's
Do not look back with regret or ponder
What life might have been like
Don't waste time sitting and wondering
Was it possible for success to strike?
Seek your goal and never
Worry 'bout what might've been,
Let not the risk of failure
Detract you within.
Life is too short to regret
Or wallow in ifs,
So strive in courage's embrace
And never shift!
Your dreams may linger
Far away like an evening mist,
But take a chance to grant them
You may find a positive twist.
The Better Way
Do you think you missed a step
In your walk of yesterday?
Do you think you failed to score
In the game you had to play?
Did you fail to speak a word
That would cheer a troubled soul?
Did you miss the chance to smile
When 'twould make a bruised heart whole?
Let it make you strive the harder
In the work the morrow brings
Just to make your fellows brighter
With the song your own heart sings.
Let it make your hand more eager
To uplift the man who falls.
Let your heart o'erflow with courage
For the fainting one who calls.
Do not let the former failure
Check the loving help today,
Rather let it urge you onward
To a kinder, gentler way.
What We Might Have Been
Have we not all, amid life's petty strife,
Some pure ideal of a noble life
That once seemed possible? Did we not hear
The flutter of its wings and feel it near.
And just within our reach? It was. And yet
We lost it in this daily jar and fret.
But still our place is kept and it will wait,
Ready for us to fill it, soon or late.
No star is ever lost we once have seen:
We always may be what we might have been.
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Anger can lead to regret, but calm choices can change everything. Click to read poems that help settle the heart.
Forgiveness can lift the weight that regret brings. Click to read poems that encourage healing and peace.
Contentment helps us stop replaying the past. Click to read poems that guide your thoughts toward gratitude today.
Conclusion
We hope these poems helped you see regret in a healthier way. If you can make something right, take one small step and do what you can. If you cannot change what happened, keep the lesson and release the weight. Today is a fresh chance to choose well and move forward with peace.
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Let the past teach you, then let it go.