I think Bret Harte is quoting an earlier source.  By chance, I ran across 
the quote in one of the Reed and Kellogg books, as a sentence for
diagraming: "Of all sad words of tongue or pen the saddest are these: 'It
might have been.'" They attribute it to Whittier.  John Greenleaf, right?


On Tue, 16 Oct 2001, Paul E. Doniger wrote:

> The line is by Bret Harte (ca. the 1860s): 
> 
> If, of all the words of tongue and pen,
> The saddest are, "It might have been,"
> More sad are these we daily see:
> "It is, but hadn't ought to be!"
> 
> from "Mrs. Judge Jenkins"
> 
> How about an analysis of " ... hadn't ought to be." There's an interesting construction!
> 
> Paul E. Doniger
> 
>   ----- Original Message ----- 
>   From: jacarta 
>   To: [log in to unmask] 
>   Sent: Tuesday, October 16, 2001 2:30 PM
>   Subject: "It might have been."
> 
> 
>   How would you analyze the verb phrase in the sentence
>   It might have been.
>    
>   By the way, does anyone know the title and author
>   of the poem that includes a verse that goes something like
>   the "saddest words are 'it might have been'."
>   Thanks.
> 
>   --José Santos
> 
> 

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