A TRIBUTE TO ELLA WHEELER <br /> WILCOX (1850-1919) <br /> She was an American poet who was best known <br />for her ‘Poems of Passion’. But her most enduring <br />work is her poem – ‘SOLITUDE’, which has been <br />presented below for the benefit of the readers. <br /> <br /> SOLITUDE <br />Laugh and the world laughs with you; <br /> Weep and you weep alone, <br />For the sad old earth must borrow it’s mirth, <br /> But has trouble enough of its own. <br />Sing, and the hills will answer; <br /> Sigh, it is lost on the air. <br />The echoes bound to a joyful sound, <br /> But shrink from voicing care. <br /> <br />Rejoice, and men will seek you; <br /> Grieve, and they turn and go. <br />They want full measure of all your pleasure, <br /> But they do not need your woes. <br />Be glad, and your friend are many; <br /> Be sad, and you lose them all. <br />There are none to decline your nectared wine, <br /> But alone you must drink life’s gall. <br /> <br />Feast and your halls are crowded; <br /> Fast, and the word goes by. <br />Succeed and give, and it helps you to live, <br /> But no man can help you die. <br />There is room in the halls of pleasure, <br /> For a long and lordly train, <br />But one by one we must all file on, - <br /> Through the narrow aisles of pain! <br /> ----0 ---- <br />Ella’s other classic poem –‘The Man Worth While’, the <br />opening stanza; - <br /> ' It is easy enough to be pleasant <br /> When life flows like a song; <br /> But the man worth while is one who smiles, <br /> When everything goes dead wrong! ' <br />- - Ella Wheeler Wilcox <br /> <br />DEDICATED TO OUR POET & FRIEND SANDRA FLOWER. <br /> -Raj Nandy<br /><br />RAJ NANDY<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/a-tribute-to-ella-wheeler-wilcox/
