All that was loss or gain, Slips from the clasping heart,
Breaks from the grasping brain.

Lo, what is left? '''I am bare
As a new-born soul, — I am naught:
My deeds are dust in air,
My words are ghosts of thought.
I ride through the night alone,
Detached from the life that seemed,
And the best I have felt or known
Is less than the least I dreamed." - Meaning and context.">

The Guests of Night (1871), st. 3 - 4, in The Poetical Works of Bayard Taylor (1907), p. 314.
“

All, wherein I have part,
All that was loss or gain, Slips from the clasping heart,
Breaks from the grasping brain.

Lo, what is left? '''I am bare
As a new-born soul, — I am naught:
My deeds are dust in air,
My words are ghosts of thought.
I ride through the night alone,
Detached from the life that seemed,
And the best I have felt or known
Is less than the least I dreamed.

— Bayard Taylor

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "All, wherein I have part,
All that was loss or gain, Slips from the clasping heart,
Breaks from the grasping brain.

Lo, what is left? '''I am bare
As a new-born soul, — I am naught:
My deeds are dust in air,
My words are ghosts of thought.
I ride through the night alone,
Detached from the life that seemed,
And the best I have felt or known
Is less than the least I dreamed." in the context of "The Guests of Night (1871), st. 3 - 4, in The Poetical Works of Bayard Taylor (1907), p. 314." to mean that wisdom is timeless.

Source: Wikiquote: "Bayard Taylor" (Quotes) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
Bayard Taylor

About Bayard Taylor

Bayard Taylor (11 January 1825 – 19 December 1878) was an American poet, literary critic, translator, travel author, and diplomat.