See?

If one proves weak who you fancied strong,
    Or false who you fancied true,
Just ease the smart of your wounded heart
    By the thought that it is not you!

If many forget a promise made,
    And your faith falls into the dust,
Then look meanwhile in your mirror and smile,
    And say, 'I am one to trust!'

If you search in vain for an ageing face
    Unharrowed by fretful fears,
Then make right now (and keep) a vow
    To grow in grace with the years.

If you lose your faith in the word of man
    As you go from the port of youth,
Just say as you sail, 'I will not fail
    To keep to the course of truth!'

For this is the way, and the only way -
    At least so it seems to me.
IT IS UP TO YOU, TO BE, AND DO,
    WHAT YOU LOOK FOR IN OTHERS.    SEE?

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

Aesthetic

Ella Wheeler Wilcox, Simple Poetry

The Law

Ella Wheeler Wilcox, Simple Poetry

All Mad

Ella Wheeler Wilcox, Simple Poetry

A Minor Chord

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.

As You Go Through Life

Don't look for the flaws as you go through life;
    And even when you find them,
It is wise and kind to be somewhat blind,
    And look for the virtue behind them;
For the cloudiest night has a hint of light
    Somewhere in its shadows hiding;
It's better by far to hunt for a star,
    Than the spots on the sun abiding.

The current of life runs ever away
    To the bosom of God's great ocean.
Don't set your force 'gainst the river's course,
    And think to alter its motion.
Don't waste a curse on the universe,
    Remember, it lived before you;
Don't butt at the storm with your puny form,
    But bend and let it go o'er you.

The world will never adjust itself
    To suit your whims to the letter,
Some things must go wrong your whole li...

Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Friendship.

Dear friend, I pray thee, if thou wouldst be proving
    Thy strong regard for me,
Make me no vows. Lip-service is not loving;
    Let thy faith speak for thee.

Swear not to me that nothing can divide us -
    So little such oaths mean.
But when distrust and envy creep beside us
    Let them not come between.

Say not to me the depths of thy devotion
    Are deeper than the sea;
But watch, lest doubt or some unkind emotion
    Embitter them for me.

Vow not to love me ever and forever,
    Words are such idle things;
But when we differ in opinions, never
    Hurt me by little stings.

I'm sick of words: they are so lightly spoken,
    And spoken, are but air.
I'd rather feel thy trust in me unbroken
    Than list thy words s...

Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Friendship

Dear friend, I pray thee, if thou wouldst be proving
    Thy strong regard for me,
Make me no vows.    Lip-service is not loving;
    Let thy faith speak for thee.

Swear not to me that nothing can divide us -
    So little such oaths mean.
But when distrust and envy creep beside us
    Let them not come between.

Say not to me the depths of thy devotion
    Are deeper than the sea;
But watch, lest doubt or some unkind emotion
    Embitter them for me.

Vow not to love me ever and for ever,
    Words are such idle things;
But when we differ in opinions, never
    Hurt me by little stings.

I'm sick of words:    they are so lightly spoken,
    And spoken, are but air.
I'd rather feel thy trust in me unbroken
    Than list thy ...

Ella Wheeler Wilcox

High Noon

Time's finger on the dial of my life
Points to high noon! and yet the half-spent day
Leaves less than half remaining, for the dark,
Bleak shadows of the grave engulf the end.
To those who burn the candle to the stick,
The sputtering socket yields but little light.
Long life is sadder than an early death.
We cannot count on ravelled threads of age
Whereof to weave a fabric.    We must use
The warp and woof the ready present yields
And toil while daylight lasts.    When I bethink
How brief the past, the future, still more brief
Calls on to action, action!    Not for me
Is time for retrospection or for dreams,
Not time for self-laudation or remorse.
Have I done nobly?    Then I must not let
Dead yesterday unborn to-morrow shame.
Have I done wrong?    Well, l...

Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Will

    You will be what you will to be;
Let failure find its false content
In that poor word "environment,"
    But spirit scorns it, and is free,

    It masters time, it conquers space,
It cows that boastful trickster Chance,
And bids the tyrant Circumstance
    Uncrown and fill a servant's place.

    The human Will, that force unseen,
The offspring of a deathless Soul,
Can hew the way to any goal,
    Though walls of granite intervene.

    Be not impatient in delay,
But wait as one who understands;
When spirit rises and commands,
    The gods are ready to obey.

    The river seeking for the sea
Confronts the dam and precipice,
Yet knows it cannot fail or miss;
    You will be what you will to be!

Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Worth While

It is easy enough to be pleasant
    When life flows by like a song,
But the man worth while is the one who will smile
    When everything goes dead wrong.
For the test of the heart is trouble,
    And it always comes with the years,
And the smile that is worth the praises of earth
    Is the smile that shines through tears.

It is easy enough to be prudent
    When nothing tempts you to stray,
When without or within no voice of sin
    Is luring your soul away;
But it's only a negative virtue
    Until it is tried by fire,
And the life that is worth the honour on earth
    Is the one that resists desire.

By the cynic, the sad, the fallen,
    Who had no strength for the strife,
The world's highway is cumbered to-day -
    They make u...

Ella Wheeler Wilcox