Solitude (poem)  

From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia

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"Solitude" is a poem by Ella Wheeler Wilcox, best remembered for its opening lines, "Laugh, and the world laughs with you; Weep, and you weep alone."

Solitude

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 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.

Message

This poem deeply reflects the feel near to that of "If joy shared it's doubled and if sorrow shared it is halved" . It tells us about the agonies of being alone (solitude) and rises up to tell the pleasure of being accompanied.