20 December 2012
I am working on something, so I turned to reading my favorite poet--Ella Wheeler Wilcox--for inspiration. Though she is most known from this poem (as becomes obvious after reading the first line), I never read it before tonight. It is poignant and, as someone who has been walking down the narrow aisles of pain the last several years, waiting for my first prognosis to be given on Friday, I could not help but share it because I've come to know how true it is.
"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 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.
~ Ella Wheeler Wilcox
Solitude, By Ella Wheeler Wilcox • Opuss № I