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 in the air;

The echoes bound to a joyful sound,

but shrink form voicing care.

Rejoice, and men will seek for you;

Grieve, and they turn and go;

They want full measure of all your pleasure,

But the do not need you 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, 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.

Ella Wheeler Wilcox