Solitude
Ella Wheeler Wilcox
Ā Laugh, and the world laughs with you;
Ā Ā Weep, and you weep alone;
Ā Ā Ā Ā For the sad old earth
Ā Ā Ā Ā Must borrow its mirth,
Ā Ā It has trouble enough of its own.
Ā Ā Sing, and the hills will answer;
Ā Ā Sigh, it is lost on the air;
Ā Ā Ā Ā The echoes bound
Ā Ā Ā Ā To a joyful sound,
Ā Ā But shrink from voicing care.
Ā Ā Rejoice, and men will seek you;
Ā Ā Grieve, and they turn and go;
Ā Ā Ā Ā They want full measure
Ā Ā Ā Ā Of all your pleasure,
Ā Ā But they do not want your woe.
Ā Ā Be glad, and your friends are many;
Ā Ā Be sad, and you lose them all;
Ā Ā Ā Ā There are none to decline
Ā Ā Ā Ā Your nectared wine,
Ā Ā But alone you must drink life’s gall.
Ā Ā Feast, and your halls are crowded;
Ā Ā Fast, and the world goes by;
Ā Ā Ā Ā Succeed and give,
Ā Ā Ā Ā And it helps you live,
Ā Ā But it cannot help you die.
Ā Ā There is room in the halls of pleasure
Ā Ā For a long and lordly train;
Ā Ā Ā Ā But one by one
Ā Ā Ā Ā We must all file on
Ā Ā Through the narrow aisles of pain.
