General Chat

SOLITUDE

Laugh and the world laughs with you;
Weep and you weep alone,
For sad old earth must borrow its mirth,
But has troubles enough of its own.
Sing, and the hills will answer;
Sigh and its 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 will be crowded;
Fast and the world goes by.
Succeed and give, and they'l let you live
But fail and they'll watch 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

thought of this after reading comments on the looking for sympathy thread as true today as it was back then Hmmmmmmmm. . .
Pat