Solitude
by Ella Wheeler Wilcox

 creative-writing  poetry

Deanna Lynd, 31 years old aspiring writer/journalist and survivor of
the prison industry, is inspired by the works of the American author and poet
Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1850-1919).

Solitude is Deanna’s favorite piece

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 friends are many;
Be sad, and you lose them all;
There are none to decline your nectar’d 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 large and lordly train,
But one by one we must all file on
Through the narrow aisles of pain.

Notes

Deanna Lynd #Y24235 C1112 Lower
Homestead Correctional Institution
19000 SW 377th St. Suite #200
Florida City, FL 33034-6400