John Greenleaf Whittier, Snow-Bound, line 204.

Alas for him who never sees The stars shine through his cypress-trees Who, hopeless, lays his dead away, Nor looks to see the breaking day Across the mournful marbles play!

— John Green on Despair

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "Alas for him who never sees The stars shine through his cypress-trees Who, hopeless, lays his dead away, Nor looks to see the breaking day Across the mournful marbles play!" in the context of "John Greenleaf Whittier, Snow-Bound, line 204." to mean that wisdom is timeless.

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Source: Wikiquote: "Despair" (Quotes: Alphabetized by author , Hoyt's New Cyclopedia Of Practical Quotations: Quotes reported in Hoyt's New Cyclopedia Of Practical Quotations (1922), p. 189-90.) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
John Green

About John Green

John Green (born 24 August 1977) is an American author of young adult fiction, who has appeared on the New York Times best sellers list several times. He also publishes a video blog with his brother Hank Green as "vlogbrothers". A massive community has popped up around the videos that the brothers call 'Nerdfighteria.' John lives with his wife and two kids in Indianapolis.