A POEM ON SOLITUDE

 

          A POEM ON SOLITUDE

The poem on solitude quoted below is by the American author and poet Ella  Wheeler Wilcox. She was born on 5 November 1850 and passed away on 30 October 1919. She is best known for her poem ‘ Solitude’ which she wrote  after consoling  an aggrieved woman on a train. The first two lines of the poem:”Laugh, and the world laughs with you,/Weep and you weep alone” have become a popular quotation.

            The poem tells us a great truth about the attitude of human beings. They join us when we are in a happy situation but leave us alone when we are in grief. In other words gladness attracts people, sorrow repels them. Look also at this proverb: Prosperity wins friends; adversity tries them.  

            The poem “Solitude’ by Ella Wheeler Wilcox reads as follows:

Laugh, and the world laughs with you,

Weep, and you weep alone.  

For the sad old earth must borrow its 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 want 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.

                                                            *******

G. R. Kanwal

11 June 2024