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.

Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1850-1919) American author and poet.
“Solitiude,” ll. 1-4, Poems of Passion (1883)
    (Source)

Possibly the most famous of Wilcox' works, these are the first four lines (the only ones anyone remembers) of three eight-line stanzas. First published in the New York Sun (1883-02-25); Wilcox titled it "The Way of the World," but the Sun renamed it "Solitude," and Wilcox used that title when she included it in her book. She was paid $5 by the newspaper.

 
Added on 15-Jul-13 | Last updated 25-Sep-24
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