Compose the hours in a looking glass
Reversed: imagine them from twelve to one,
And as in retrospection they all pass,
Consider what in each you should have done;
How every moment on the prior leans
And what failed late was undone in the morn;
How what was left aside in later scenes
Seemed possible before; how thoughts forlorn
And unsupported as the sun went down
Were gay and lively when it rose before;
How muscles twitched into a deep dark frown
That had been smiling ere they ended sore.
Having considered this, reverse, and try
To give those melancholy thoughts the lie.