Mary Ann Evans A.K.A George Eliot

This week I was talking about poetry to a group of people, my mother included, and she made the comment that it took her years to find out that George Eliot was a woman. I, being ignorant, did not know that this was all but a joke. So today I thought I'd study the woman who gave up her name for the sake of literary acclaim, as many did in the 1800s (the Brontes included).

This is a simple enough poem but I like the pure message.

Count that day lost

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.

I have immediately come across the problem of which name to call the poet. I shall choose Evans in the recognition of her true identity, methinks. I hope she would have preferred that, although I have noticed that even ingrained within this poem is the male mind-set; 'him who heard' uses the masculine pronoun in order to encompass both genders, giving male priority and superiority.

So, Evans is not asking much of the reader; the tricolon of 'one...' reinforces the fact that she believes a little kindness can go a long way, both for the recipient and for the soul of the giver. The tricolon is in fact descending, asking but a 'deed...word...glance', which evidences this belief.

The order of the stanzas aids the message the narrator is giving. By placing the positive stanza first, she praises those who act well in the world and they need not read on. The second stanza is therefore more strongly represented as bad as it comes as a clear contrast to the first stanza, especially with all the negatives ('but', 'no', 'nothing', 'worse', 'lost'). Even by placing 'nay' after 'yea' in the second line the negative tone is highlighted.

The last line is the only ambiguous line in the poem. How can a day be 'worse than lost'? Well, by ruining it, I suppose. One cannot just count the day as if it did not exist, it actually had a negative impact upon the world. She was clever to title the poem with the more simple 'count that day as lost' because the final line expands this unexpectedly, making the reader think more about her message. The imperative in 'count' is authoritative as well, truly making the reader feel bad if they have done no good that day, encouraging them to want to improve the next.

Overall, the poem reads as if advice given to a child which is nevertheless still applicable to any adult. The simple lexis and singsong rhyme make the poem accessible by all, whilst also being memorable, a constant reminder each day to be good to someone in some way. The 'sunshine' image is common, again making the poem read more universally as it is less complicated to decipher (she is capable of more complex writing, as in 'The Choir Invisible'). The use of this image in both stanzas creates an anaphoric reference to more clearly show what is good and bad.