The Purpose

Over and over the task was set,
    Over and over I slighted the work,
But ever and alway I knew that yet
    I must face and finish the toil I shirk.

Over and over the whip of pain
    Has spurred and punished with blow on blow;
As ever and alway I tried in vain
    To shun the labour I hated so.

Over and over I came this way
    For just one purpose:    O stubborn soul!
Turn with a will to your work to-day,
    And learn the lesson of SELF-CONTROL.

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

Returned Birds

Ella Wheeler Wilcox, Simple Poetry

How Is It?

Ella Wheeler Wilcox, Simple Poetry

A Suggestion

Ella Wheeler Wilcox, Simple Poetry

Gethsemane

Ella Wheeler Wilcox, Simple Poetry

English

Suggested Poems

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This Is My Task

When the whole world resounds with rude alarms
Of warring arms,
When God's good earth, from border unto border
Shows man's disorder,
Let me not waste my dower of mortal might
In grieving over wrongs I cannot right.
This is my task:    amid discordant strife
To keep a clean sweet centre in my life;
And though the human orchestra may be
Playing all out of key -
To tune my soul to symphonies above,
And sound the note of love.
This is my task.

When by the minds of men most beauteous Faith
Seems doomed to death,
And to her place is hoisted, by soul treason,
The dullard Reason,
Let me not hurry forth with flag unfurled
To proselyte an unbelieving world.
This is my task:    in depths of unstarred night
Or in diverting and distracting light

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 raveled 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, let the bit...

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

Keep Going

Is the goal distant, and troubled the road,
    And the way long?
    And heavy your load?
Then gird up your courage, and say 'I am strong,'
    And keep going.

Is the work weary, and endless the grind
    And petty the pay?
    Then brace up your mind
And say 'Something better is coming my way,'
    And keep doing.

Is the drink bitter life pours in your cup -
    Is the taste gall?
    Then smile and look up
And say 'God is with me whatever befall,'
    And keep trusting.

Is the heart heavy with hope long deferred,
    And with prayers that seem vain?
    Keep saying the word -
And that which you strive for you yet shall attain.
    Keep praying.

Ella Wheeler Wilcox

The Structure

Upon the wreckage of thy yesterday
Design the structure of to-morrow.    Lay
Strong corner stones of purpose, and prepare
Great blocks of wisdom, cut from past despair.
Shape mighty pillars of resolve, to set
Deep in the tear-wet mortar of regret.
Work on with patience.    Though thy toil be slow,
Yet day by day the edifice shall grow.
Believe in God - in thine own self believe.
All that thou hast desired thou shalt achieve.

Ella Wheeler Wilcox