****a Tribute To Ella Wheeler Wilcox Poem by RAJ NANDY

A TRIBUTE TO ELLA WHEELER
WILCOX (1850-1919)
She was an American poet who was best known
for her ‘Poems of Passion’. But her most enduring
work is her poem – ‘SOLITUDE’, which has been
presented below for the benefit of the readers.

SOLITUDE
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 its 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 woes.
Be glad, and your friend 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 word goes by.
Succeed and give, and it helps you to 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!
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Ella’s other classic poem –‘The Man Worth While’, the
opening stanza; -
' It is easy enough to be pleasant
When life flows like a song;
But the man worth while is one who smiles,
When everything goes dead wrong! '
- - Ella Wheeler Wilcox

DEDICATED TO OUR POET & FRIEND SANDRA FLOWER.
-Raj Nandy