THEY say that Hope is happiness
But genuine Love must prize the past;
And Memory wakes the thoughts that blest
They rose the first they Set the last

And all that Memory loves the most
Was once our only hope to be;
And all that hope adored and lost
Hath melted into memory

Alas it is delusion all,
The future cheats us from afar,
Nor can we be what we recall,
Nor dare we think on what we are.

October 1814
The Works of Lord Byron Including the Suppressed Poems. Also a Sketch of His Life By George Gordon Byron Byron