Maud Muller

"Maud Muller" is a poem from 1856 written by John Greenleaf Whittier (1807–1892).

The judge marries a woman of wealth whose love for him is based on his riches.

This poem contains the well-known quotation: "For of all sad words of tongue or pen, The saddest are these: 'It might have been!'"

Whittier's younger contemporary Bret Harte wrote a short parody and sequel to the poem entitled "Mrs. Judge Jenkins", which mocks Whittier's conclusion by having Maud marry the Judge after all, with far more disastrous results: Maud's relatives get drunk in the wedding, while Maud herself grows "broad and red and stout" after giving birth to twins.

[1] Harte juxtaposes Whittier's famous line with his own, witty, take: If, of all words of tongue and pen, The saddest are, "It might have been," More sad are these we daily see:

Print shows Maud Muller, John Greenleaf Whittier's heroine in the poem of the same name, leaning on her hay rake, gazing into the distance. Behind her, an ox cart, and in the distance, the village