Solitude

I came across this poem the other day when I was cleaning my room. I was something that I copied back when I was little. My mom used to get me poetry books from the library and I would sit for hours on end just copying poems. I threw most of these copied poems away, but I happened upon this one in a notebook the other day. Its always been a favorite of mine, and I think its a poem that everybody could live by or take something from.

Solitude
By Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Laugh, and the world laughs with you;
Weep, and you weep alone.
For the sad old earth must borrow its mirth,
But has troubles 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 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 a room in the halls of pleasure
For a long and lordly train,
But one by one we must file on
Through the narrow aisles of pain.