Shrines

About a holy shrine or sacred place,
    Where many hearts have bowed in earnest prayer,
The loveliest spirits congregate from space,
    And bring their sweet, uplifting influence there.

If in your chamber you pray oft and well,
    Soon will these angel-messengers arrive
And make their home with you, and where they dwell
    All worthy toil and purposes shall thrive.

I know a humble, plainly furnished room,
    So thronged with presences serene and bright,
The heaviest heart therein forgets its gloom
    As in some gorgeous temple filled with light.

Those heavenly spirits, beauteous and divine,
    Live only in an atmosphere of prayer;
Make for yourself a sacred, fervent shrine,
    And you will find them swiftly flocking there.

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

Pain's Purpose

Ella Wheeler Wilcox, Simple Poetry

A Moorish Maid

Ella Wheeler Wilcox, Simple Poetry

Upon The Sand.

Ella Wheeler Wilcox, Simple Poetry

Deceitful Calm

Ella Wheeler Wilcox, Simple Poetry

English

Suggested Poems

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Bridge Of Prayer

The bridge of prayer from heavenly heights suspended
    Unites the earth with spirit-realms in Space.
The interests of those separate worlds are blended
    For those whose feet turn often toward that place.

In troubled nights of sorrow and repining,
    When joy and hope seem sunk in dark despair,
We still may see above the shadows shining,
    The gleaming archway of the bridge of prayer.

From that fair height, our souls may lean and listen
    To sounds of music from the farther shore,
And through the vapours, sometimes dear eyes glisten
    Of loved ones who have hastened on before.

And angels come from their Celestial City -
    And meet us half way on the bridge of prayer.
God sends them forth, full of divinest pity
    To strengthen us for...

Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Prayer

I do not undertake to say
    That literal answers come from Heaven,
But I know this - that when I pray
    A comfort, a support is given
That helps me rise o'er earthly things
As larks soar up on airy wings.

In vain the wise philosopher
    Points out to me my fabric's flaws,
In vain the scientists aver
    That "all things are controlled by laws."
My life has taught me day by day
That it availeth much to pray.

I do not stop to reason out
    The why and how.    I do not care,
Since I know this, that when I doubt,
    Life seems a blackness of despair,
The world a tomb; and when I trust,
Sweet blossoms spring up in the dust.

Since I know in the darkest hour,
    If I lift up my soul in prayer,
Some sympathetic, loving Pow...

Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Here And Now

Here, in the heart of the world,
    Here, in the noise and the din,
Here, where our spirits were hurled
    To battle with sorrow and sin,
This is the place and the spot
    For knowledge of infinite things
This is the kingdom where Thought
    Can conquer the prowess of kings

Wait for no heavenly life,
    Seek for no temple alone;
Here, in the midst of the strife,
    Know what the sages have known.
See what the Perfect Ones saw -
    God in the depth of each soul,
God as the light and the law,
    God as beginning and goal.

Earth is one chamber of Heaven,
    Death is no grander than birth.
Joy in the life that was given,
    Strive for perfection on earth;
Here, in the turmoil and roar,
    Show what it is to be calm;<...

Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Here And Now

Here, in the heart of the world,
    Here, in the noise and the din,
Here, where our spirits were hurled
    To battle with sorrow and sin,
This is the place and the spot
    For knowledge of infinite things;
This is the kingdom where Thought
    Can conquer the prowess of kings.

Wait for no heavenly life,
    Seek for no temple alone;
Here, in the midst of the strife,
    Know what the sages have known.
See what the Perfect Ones saw -
    God in the depth of each soul,
God as the light and the law,
    God as beginning and goal.

Earth is one chamber of Heaven,
    Death is no grander than birth.
Joy in the life that was given,
    Strive for perfection on earth.
Here, in the turmoil and roar,
    Show what it is to be calm...

Ella Wheeler Wilcox

The Tower-Room

There is a room serene and fair,
All palpitant with light and air;
Free from the dust, world's noise and fuss -
God's Tower-room in each of us.

Oh! many a stair our feet must press,
And climb from self to selflessness,
Before we reach that radiant room
Above the discord and the gloom.

So many, many stairs to climb,
But mount them gently - take your time;
Rise leisurely, nor strive to run -
Not so the mightiest feats are done.

Well doing of the little things:
Repression of the word that stings;
The tempest of the mind made still
By victory of the God-like will.

The hated task performed in love -
All these are stairs that wind above
The things that trouble and annoy,
Up to the Tower-room of joy.

Rise leisurely; t...

Ella Wheeler Wilcox

My Flower Room

My Flower Room is such a little place,
Scarce twenty feet by nine; yet in that space
I have met God; yea, many a radiant hour
Have talked with Him, the All-Embracing-Cause,
About His laws.
And He has shown me, in each vine and flower
Such miracles of power
That day by day this Flower Room of mine
Has come to be a shrine.

Fed by the self-same soil and atmosphere
Pale, tender shoots appear
Rising to greet the light in that sweet room.
One speeds to crimson bloom;
One slowly creeps to unassuming grace;
One climbs, one trails;
One drinks the light and moisture;
One exhales.

Up through the earth together, stem by stem
Two plants push swiftly in a floral race;
Till one sends forth a blossom like a gem;
And one gives only fragrance

Ella Wheeler Wilcox