Creation.

        The impulse of all love is to create.
    God was so full of love, in his embrace
    He clasped the empty nothingness of space,
        And low! the solar system! High in state
        The mighty sun sat, so supreme and great
    With this same essence, one smile of its face
    Brought myriad forms of life forth; race on race,
        From insects up to men.

    Through love, not hate,
        All that is grand in nature or in art
    Sprang into being. He who would build sublime
    And lasting works, to stand the test of time,
        Must inspiration draw from his full heart.
    And he who loveth widely, well, and much,
    The secret holds of the true master touch.

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

Helena.

Ella Wheeler Wilcox, Simple Poetry

My Heaven

Ella Wheeler Wilcox, Simple Poetry

The Meeting Of The Centuries

Ella Wheeler Wilcox, Simple Poetry

Womanhood

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.

Love, Time, And Will

A soul immortal, Time, God everywhere,
Without, within -how can a heart despair,
Or talk of failure, obstacles, and doubt?
(What proofs of God?    The little seeds that sprout,
Life, and the solar system, and their laws.
Nature?    Ah, yes; but what was Nature's cause?)

All mighty words are short:    God, life, and death,
War, peace, and truth, are uttered in a breath.
And briefly said are love, and will, and time;
Yet in them lies a majesty sublime.

Love is the vast constructive power of space;
Time is the hour which calls it into place;
Will is the means of using time and love,
And bringing forth the heart's desires thereof.

The way is love, the time is now, and will
The patient method.    Let this knowledge fill
Thy consciousness, and fate...

Ella Wheeler Wilcox

The Law

When the great universe was wrought
To might and majesty from naught,
The all creative force was -
        THOUGHT.

That force is thine.    Though desolate
The way may seem, command thy fate.
Send forth thy thought -
        Create - CREATE!

Ella Wheeler Wilcox

The Law

The tide of love swells in me with such force,
    It sweeps away all hate and all distrust.
As eddying straws and particles of dust
    Are lost by some swift river in its course.

So much I love my friends, my life, my art,
    Each shadow flies; the light dispels the gloom.
Love is so fair, I find I have no room
    For anything less worthy in my heart.

Love is a germ which we can cultivate -
    To grace and perfume sweeter than the rose,
Or leave neglected while our heart soil grows
    Rank with that vile and poison thistle, hate.

Love is a joyous thrush, that one can teach
    To sing sweet lute-like songs which all may hear.
Or we can silence him and tune the ear
    To caw of crows, or to the vulture's screech.

Love is a feast; ...

Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Individuality.

        O yes, I love you, and with all my heart;
    Just as a weaker woman loves her own,
        Better than I love my beloved art,
    Which, till you came, reigned royally, alone,
        My king, my master. Since I saw your face
        I have dethroned it, and you hold that place.

        I am as weak as other women are:
    Your frown can make the whole world like a tomb;
        Your smile shines brighter than the sun, by far.
    Sometimes I think there is not space or room
        In all the earth for such a love as mine,
        And it soars up to breathe in realms divine.

        I know that your desertion or neglect
    Could break my heart, as women's hearts do break.
        If my wan days had nothing to expect
    From your love's splen...

Ella Wheeler Wilcox

The All-Creative Spark

Pain can go guised as joy, dross pass for gold,
    Vulgarity can masquerade as wit,
Or spite wear friendship's garments; but I hold
    That passionate feeling has no counterfeit.
Chief jewel from Jove's crown 'twas sent men, lent
For inspiration and for sacrament.

Jove never could have made the Universe
    Had he not glowed with passion's sacred fire;
Though man oft turns the blessing to a curse,
    And burns himself on his own funeral pyre,
Though scarred the soul be where its light burns bright,
Yet where it is not, neither is there might.

Yea, it was set in Jove's resplendent crown
    When he created worlds; that done, why, hence,
He cast the priceless, awful jewel down
    To be man's punishment and recompense.
And that is how he sees and ...

Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Love's Supremacy

As yon great Sun in his supreme condition
    Absorbs small worlds and makes them all his own,
So does my love absorb each vain ambition,
    Each outside purpose which my life has known.
Stars cannot shine so near that vast orb'd splendour;
    They are content to feed his flames of fire:
And so my heart is satisfied to render
    Its strength, its all, to meet thy strong desire.

As in a forest when dead leaves are falling
    From all save some perennial green tree,
So one by one I find all pleasures palling
    That are not linked with or enjoyed by thee.
And all the homage that the world may proffer,
    I take as perfumed oils or incense sweet,
And think of it as one thing more to offer,
    And sacrifice to Love, at thy dear feet.

I love myse...

Ella Wheeler Wilcox