Monday, October 03, 2005
Two Poems for the Downtrodden
well i'm doing my poet sharing prep now.. and i just came across two really sweet poems (actually more than that but i'd just wanna share two). hopefully they'll lift your spirits as they did mine. they're both by
Ella Wheeler Wilcox.
Solitude
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 you alone 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 large and lordly train,
But one by one we must all file on
Through the narrow isles of pain.
The Wish
Should some great angel say to me to-morrow,
‘Thou must re-tread thy pathway from the start,
But God will grant, in pity, for thy sorrow,
Some one dear wish, the nearest to thy heart.’
This were my wish! from my life’s dim beginning
Let be what has been! wisdom planned the whole;
My want, my woe, my errors, and my sinning,
All, all were needed lessons for my soul.
stained with coffee at 11:05 PM
