| |
|
What can be said in New Year rhymes,That's not been said a thousand times?
The new years come, the old years go,We know we dream, we dream we know.
We rise up laughing with the light,
We lie down weeping with the night.
We hug the world until it stings,
We curse it then and sigh for wings.
We live, we love, we woo, we wed,
We wreathe our prides, we sheet our dead.
We laugh, we weep, we hope, we fear,
And that's the burden of a year.
This poem is in the public domain.
|
Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1850-1919) was a popular and prolific poet. Published and lauded before she even graduated from high school, Ella preferred to write happy, upbeat poetry and was much beloved for it. More than a dozen of her poems are included in the book, Best Loved Poems of the American People (Doubleday, 2008). The familiar saying, "Laugh and the world laughs with you, weep, and you weep alone. . ." comes from her best-known poem, "Solitude." A morally strong and spiritual person, Ella believed that her purpose on earth was to practice kindness and service. Read more about her here.
|
|
marenomitchell:
Amazingly "modern" sounding.
Posted 12/30/2012 11:35 AM
|
twinkscat:
Short and sparse, with fresh rhyming couplets. I enjoyed reading this.
Posted 12/30/2012 10:35 AM
|
dotief@comcast.net:
Very powerful! It is so appropriate! Thanks.
Posted 12/30/2012 09:57 AM
|
peninsulapoet:
This poem is lovely and true.
Posted 12/30/2012 09:51 AM
|
KevinArnold:
A fine choice as a new year beckons. "Solitude" is one of my favorite poems but I wasn't familiar with this gem. It contains much of the 'lived life sweet-sourness' of "Solitrde."
Posted 12/30/2012 08:44 AM
|
|
|
|
My Cart 
