UniTEd

Solitude

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 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 friend’s 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.