Versedays: Solitude by Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Solitude

by

Ella Wheeler Wilcox


LAUGH, and the world laughs with you;
Weep, and you weep alone.
For the sad old earth must borrow it's mirth,
But has trouble enough of it's own.
Sing, and the hills will answer;
Sigh, it is lost on the air.
The echoes bound to a joyful sound,
But shrink from voicing care.

Rejoice, and men will seek you;
Grieve, and they turn and go.
They want full measure of all your pleasure,
But they do not need your woe.
Be glad, and your friends are many;
Be sad, and you lose them all.
There are none to decline your nectared wine,
But alone you must drink life's gall.

Feast, and your halls are crowded;
Fast, and the world goes by.
Succeed and give, and it helps you live,
But no man can help you die.
There is room in the halls of pleasure
For a long and lordly train,
But one by one we must all file on
Through the narrow aisles of pain.

Image Credit: Gutenberg

How many times have we used the saying, “Laugh and the world laughs with you, weep, and you weep alone?” But how many of us knew that this is not a proverb but the first two lines of a poem? Well, I didn’t for sure. Ella Wheeler Wilcox’s poem “Solitude” was first published in 1883 along with a few other unlikely verse companions in a compilation named “Poems of Passion.” Her poetry became famous but that did not deter another poet from blatantly duplicating her poem word to word. The interesting turns that followed is an amusing bit of trivia that can be read here. And if you want an enjoyable read in the form of a slideshow with some apt music here is a video of the poem.