Welcome to Poetry.com!

Poetry.com is a collaborative platform for poets worldwide, offering a vast collection of works by both renowned and emerging poets. It's a community-driven project that serves as a hub for poets to share their works, receive feedback, and connect with like-minded fellow poets.

Explore our poetry collection by navigating through subjects, using alphabetical order, or search by keywords. You can contribute a new poem, share your thoughts and rating on existing works, listen to poems with voice pronunciation, and even translate pieces into a variety of languages, both common and uncommon.

Rate this poem:4.3 / 45 votes

George Eliot 1819 (Nuneaton, Warwickshire) – 1880 (Chelsea, London)

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.

About this poem

"Count That Day Lost" is a poem written by George Eliot (pseudonym of Mary Ann Evans). The poem is a reflection on the nature of success and failure, and encourages the reader to adopt a positive attitude towards life. It consists of two stanzas, each with four lines. The poem begins with the line "If you sit down at set of sun, and count the acts that you have done," suggesting that the reader should take stock of their accomplishments at the end of each day. The poem goes on to argue that even if the day has been filled with failure and disappointment, it is not truly lost if one has learned something from the experience. The poem is a powerful reminder to always strive to do one's best, and to view setbacks as opportunities for growth and learning. 

Font size:
 

Modified by acronimous on March 14, 2023

34 sec read
309,481 Views

George Eliot

Mary Anne Evans, better known by her pen name George Eliot, was an English novelist, journalist and translator, and one of the leading writers of the Victorian era. more…

All George Eliot poems | George Eliot Books

31 fans


Translation

Find a translation for this poem in other languages:

Select another language:

  • - Select -
  • 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
  • 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
  • Español (Spanish)
  • Esperanto (Esperanto)
  • 日本語 (Japanese)
  • Português (Portuguese)
  • Deutsch (German)
  • العربية (Arabic)
  • Français (French)
  • Русский (Russian)
  • ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
  • 한국어 (Korean)
  • עברית (Hebrew)
  • Gaeilge (Irish)
  • Українська (Ukrainian)
  • اردو (Urdu)
  • Magyar (Hungarian)
  • मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
  • Indonesia (Indonesian)
  • Italiano (Italian)
  • தமிழ் (Tamil)
  • Türkçe (Turkish)
  • తెలుగు (Telugu)
  • ภาษาไทย (Thai)
  • Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
  • Čeština (Czech)
  • Polski (Polish)
  • Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
  • Românește (Romanian)
  • Nederlands (Dutch)
  • Ελληνικά (Greek)
  • Latinum (Latin)
  • Svenska (Swedish)
  • Dansk (Danish)
  • Suomi (Finnish)
  • فارسی (Persian)
  • ייִדיש (Yiddish)
  • հայերեն (Armenian)
  • Norsk (Norwegian)
  • English (English)

Discuss the poem "Count That Day Lost" with the community...

8 Comments
  • dougb.19255
    One of my favourite novels is short. Silas Marner. Love in a little girl overwhelms greed, suspicion, loneliness
    LikeReply2 days ago
  • luisestable1
    This poem is about attitude towards life. You can look at it with a frown or with a smile. Happiness works from the inside out and depends on how we see things or the world.
    Great Poem!
    LikeReply19 days ago
  • luisestable1
    This poem tries to emphasize that nothing in life is wasted. Even bad experiences are opportunities for growth or learning, so no day is lost.
    A great poem this is and much could be say about it.
    LikeReply29 days ago
  • dougb.19255
    I an thinking about reading other works by her. She spoke from the heart. Rattling social convention. Scandal. Showing both the good and bad in us all. Diagnostician of human experience and trials and victoties. I have a DVD series on Middlemarch (BBC). A beginning. 
    LikeReply 11 month ago
    • Soulwriter
      she's fantastic isn't she
      LikeReply1 month ago
  • dougb.19255
    One of my favourite novels is the short book Silas Marner by George Eliot. A spunky woman taking a male pen name for greater acceptance at the time. Religion, both the real and the feigned. Social norms questioned. Dark places and lives redeemed. Avarice replaced by sweet, honest love for a little girl. Community coming to help in her upbringing in the cottage of Silas. Most happy ending. 
    LikeReply 21 month ago
    • Soulwriter
      I am 100% with you! I think Daniel Deronda is great too. But the new generation can't seem to relate to her. :(
      LikeReply1 month ago
  • carloss.69843
    sometimes an acknowledgment can speak a thousand words especially what we observe before and around us brightening or diming our expectations
    LikeReply 15 months ago
  • Dougla$Irishman
    Are we our brother's keeper ? More than that, we should love our enemies, anyone can love their friends ! But to go beyond that is sacrificial love !
    The world will never learn, look at Ukraine !
    LikeReply 11 year ago
  • esdras_a
    I greatly enjoyed this poem. If one tries to understand the poem, it is truly a magnificent lesson. It was very well written, and the way the theme is conveyed is in a way easily understood.
    LikeReply 11 year ago

Citation

Use the citation below to add this poem to your bibliography:

Style:MLAChicagoAPA

"Poetry.com" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2023. Web. 10 Jun 2023. <https://www.poetry.com/>.

Become a member!

Join our community of poets and poetry lovers to share your work and offer feedback and encouragement to writers all over the world!

June 2023

Poetry Contest

Join our monthly contest for an opportunity to win cash prizes and attain global acclaim for your talent.
20
days
7
hours
32
minutes

Browse Poetry.com

Quiz

Are you a poetry master?

»
How many lines does a sonnet have?
  • A. 12
  • B. 18
  • C. 14
  • D. 16

Our favorite collection of

Famous Poets

»