The first character is an opening quote; perhaps there is a closing quote (aka apostrophe) at the end (can’t be sure because of the crop). But TIS without an apostrophe is not a word; ’Tis however is a elided version of *it is*.
So if the entire piece is quoted, it should read (I have used double quotes to distinguish the quotation from the sole apostrophe):
“ ’Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.”
The first character is an opening quote; perhaps there is a closing quote (aka apostrophe) at the end (can’t be sure because of the crop). But TIS without an apostrophe is not a word; ’Tis however is a elided version of *it is*.
So if the entire piece is quoted, it should read (I have used double quotes to distinguish the quotation from the sole apostrophe):
“ ’Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.”