2013-05-16
Explanation
The comic depicts a somber, bearded 19th-century figure quoting the famous line: "For all sad words of tongue or pen, the saddest are these: 'It might have been!'" The caption below reveals: "John Greenleaf Whittier discovers he's too late for McDonald's breakfast."
The humor comes from the absurd juxtaposition of high literary tragedy with an utterly mundane disappointment. The quote is from John Greenleaf Whittier's 1856 poem "Maud Muller," one of the most frequently cited expressions of regret in the English language. By applying this profound lamentation about missed opportunities and the roads not taken to the trivial experience of arriving at McDonald's after the breakfast menu has ended, the comic deflates the gravitas of the original poem. It also taps into the widely relatable frustration of just missing the breakfast cutoff -- a minor annoyance that, in the moment, can indeed feel like one of life's great tragedies.