Attraction.

        The meadow and the mountain with desire
    Gazed on each other, till a fierce unrest
    Surged 'neath the meadow's seemingly calm breast,
        And all the mountain's fissures ran with fire.

        A mighty river rolled between them there.
    What could the mountain do but gaze and burn?
    What could the meadow do but look and yearn,
        And gem its bosom to conceal despair?

        Their seething passion agitated space,
    Till, lo! the lands a sudden earthquake shook,
    The river fled, the meadow leaped and took
        The leaning mountain in a close embrace.

Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Ella Wheeler Wilcox was an American author and poet, born on November 5, 1850, and died on October 30, 1919. She was known for her works expressing optimistic views and moral lessons. Her most famous book was 'Poems of Passion'. Her poem 'Solitude' contains the famous lines, 'Laugh, and the world laughs with you; weep, and you weep alone'. Over her career, Wilcox became popularly known as a 'people's poet'.

Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Father

Ella Wheeler Wilcox, Simple Poetry

The Lullaby

Ella Wheeler Wilcox, Simple Poetry

The Crimes Of Peace

Ella Wheeler Wilcox, Simple Poetry

Most Blest Is He

Ella Wheeler Wilcox, Simple Poetry

English

Suggested Poems

Explore a curated selection of verses that share themes, styles, and emotional resonance with the poem you've just read.

He That Looketh

Yea, she and I have broken God's command,
    And in His sight are branded with our shame.
    And yet I do not even know her name,
Nor ever in my life have touched her hand
Or brushed her garments.    But I chanced to stand
    Beside her in the throng!    A sweet, swift flame
    Shot from her flesh to mine -and hers the blame
Of willing looks that fed it; aye, that fanned
The glow within me to a hungry fire.
    There was an invitation in her eyes.
    Had she met mine with coldness or surprise,
I had not plunged on headlong in the mire
Of amorous thought.    The flame leaped high and higher;
    Her breath and mine pulsated into sighs,
    And soft glance melted into glance kiss-wise,
And in God's sight both yielded to desire.

Ella Wheeler Wilcox

The Rape Of The Mist

High o'er the clouds a Sunbeam shone,
    And far down under him,
With a subtle grace that was all her own,
    The Mist gleamed, fair and dim.

He looked at her with his burning eyes
    And longed to fall at her feet;
Of all sweet things there under the skies,
    He thought her the thing most sweet.

He had wooed oft, as a Sunbeam may,
    Wave, and blossom, and flower;
But never before had he felt the sway
    Of a great love's mighty power.

Tall cloud-mountains and vast space-seas,
    Wind, and tempest, and fire -
What are obstacles such as these
    To a heart that is filled with desire?

Boldly he trod over cloud and star,
    Boldly he swam through space,
She caught the glow of his eyes afar
    And veiled her delic...

Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Love's Mirage

Midway upon the route, he paused athirst
    And suddenly across the wastes of heat,
    He saw cool waters gleaming, and a sweet
Green oasis upon his vision burst.
A tender dream, long in his bosom nursed,
    Spread love's illusive verdure for his feet;
    The barren sands changed into golden wheat;
The way grew glad that late had seemed accursed.

She shone, the woman wonder, on his soul;
    The garden spot, for which men toil and wait;
    The house of rest, that is each heart's demand;
But when, at last, he reached the gleaming goal,
    He found, oh, cruel irony of fate,
    But desert sun upon the desert sand.

Ella Wheeler Wilcox

The Story.

They met each other in the glade -
    She lifted up her eyes;
Alack the day! Alack the maid!
    She blushed in swift surprise.
Alas! alas! the woe that comes from lifting up the eyes.

The pail was full, the path was steep -
    He reached to her his hand;
She felt her warm young pulses leap,
    But did not understand.
Alas! alas! the woe that comes from clasping hand with hand.

She sat beside him in the wood -
    He wooed with words and sighs;
Ah! love in spring seems sweet and good,
    And maidens are not wise.
Alas! alas! the woe that comes from listing lovers' sighs.

The summer sun shone fairly down,
    The wind blew from the south;
As blue eyes gazed in eyes of brown,
    His kiss fell on her mouth.
Alas! alas! the wo...

Ella Wheeler Wilcox

River And Sea

We stood by the river that swept
    In its glory and grandeur away;
But never a pulse o' me leapt,
    And you wondered at me that day.

We stood by the lake as it lay
    With its dimpled face turned to the light;
Was it strange I had nothing to say
    To so fair and enchanting a sight?

I look on your tresses of gold -
    You are fair and a thing to be loved -
Do you think I am heartless and cold
    That I look and am wholly unmoved?

One answer, dear friend, I will make
    To the questions your eyes ask of me:
"Talk not of the river or lake
    To those who have looked on the sea"

Ella Wheeler Wilcox

The Unattained.

A vision beauteous as the morn,
    With heavenly eyes and tresses streaming,
Slow glided o'er a field late shorn
    Where walked a poet idly dreaming.
He saw her, and joy lit his face,
    "Oh, vanish not at human speaking,"
He cried, "thou form of magic grace,
    Thou art the poem I am seeking.

"I've sought thee long! I claim thee now -
    My thought embodied, living, real."
She shook the tresses from her brow.
    "Nay, nay!" she said, "I am ideal.
I am the phantom of desire -
    The spirit of all great endeavor,
I am the voice that says, 'Come higher,'
    That calls men up and up forever.

"'Tis not alone thy thought supreme
    That here upon thy path has risen;
I am the artist's highest dream,
    The ray of light he cannot...

Ella Wheeler Wilcox