Two Sat Down

Two sat down in the morning time,
    One to sing and one to spin.
All men listened the song sublime -
    But no one listened the dull wheel's din.

The singer sat in a pleasant nook,
    And sang of a life that was fair and sweet,
While the spinner sat with a steadfast look,
    Busily plying her hands and feet.

The singer sang on with a rose in her hair,
    And all men listened her dulcet tone;
And the spinner spun on with a dull despair
    Down in her heart as she sat alone.

But lo! on the morrow no one said
    Aught of the singer or what she sang.
Men were saying:    "Behold this thread,"
    And loud the praise of the spinner rang.

The world has forgotten the singer's name -
    Her rose is faded, her songs are old;
But far o'er the ocean the spinner's fame
    Yet is blazoned in lines of gold.

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

The Reason

Ella Wheeler Wilcox, Simple Poetry

Fate And I

Ella Wheeler Wilcox, Simple Poetry

Knitting

Ella Wheeler Wilcox, Simple Poetry

Illusion

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.

A Song.

Is any one sad in the world, I wonder?
    Does any one weep on a day like this,
With the sun above, and the green earth under?
    Why, what is life but a dream of bliss?

With the sun, and the skies, and the birds above me,
    Birds that sing as they wheel and fly -
With the winds to follow and say they love me -
    Who could be lonely? O ho, not I!

Somebody said, in the street this morning,
    As I opened my window to let in the light,
That the darkest day of the world was dawning;
    But I looked, and the East was a gorgeous sight.

One who claims that he knows about it
    Tells me the Earth is a vale of sin;
But I and the bees and the birds - we doubt it,
    And think it a world worth living in.

Some one says that hearts are fi...

Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Helena.

Last night I saw Helena. She whose praise
    Of late all men have sounded. She for whom
    Young Angus rashly sought a silent tomb
Rather than live without her all his days.

Wise men go mad who look upon her long,
    She is so ripe with dangers. Yet meanwhile
    I find no fascination in her smile,
Although I make her theme of this poor song.

"Her golden tresses?" yes, they may be fair,
    And yet to me each shining silken tress
    Seems robbed of beauty and all lusterless -
Too many hands have stroked Helena's hair.

(I know a little maiden so demure
    She will not let her one true lover's hands
    In playful fondness touch her soft brown bands,
So dainty-minded is she, and so pure.)

"Her great dark eyes that flash like gems at ...

Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Helena

Last night I saw Helena.    She whose praise
    Of late all men have sounded.    She for whom
    Young Angus rashly sought a silent tomb
Rather than live without her all his days.

Wise men go mad who look upon her long,
    She is so ripe with dangers.    Yet meanwhile
    I find no fascination in her smile,
Although I make her theme of this poor song.

"Her golden tresses?" yes, they may be fair,
    And yet to me each shining silken tress
    Seems robbed of beauty and all lustreless -
Too many hands have stroked Helena's hair.

(I know a little maiden so demure
    She will not let her one true lover's hands
    In playful fondness touch her soft brown bands
So dainty-minded is she, and so pure.)

"Her great dark eyes that flash like ...

Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Memories {1}

I am thinking of the Springtime
On the farm out in the West,
When my world held nothing for me that I wanted,
(Save a courage all undaunted),
And my foolish little rhymes,
Were but heart beats, rung in chimes,
That I sounded, just to ease my life's unrest.
Yes, I sang them, and I rang them,
Just to ease my youth's unrest.

When I heard the name of London,
In that early day, afar,
In that Springtime of my Country over yonder,
Then I used to sit and wonder
If the day would come to me,
When my ship should cross the sea,
To the land that seemed as distant as a star.
In my dreaming, ever gleaming
Like a distant unknown star.

Now in London in the Springtime,
I am sitting here, your guest.
Nay - I think it is a vision, or a fancy -

Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Two

As I sat in my opera box last night
In a glimmer of gems and a blaze of light,
    And smiling that all might see,
This curious thought came all unsought -
    That there were two of me.

One who sat in her silk and lace,
With gems on her bosom and smiles on her face,
    And hot-house blossoms in her hair,
While her fan kept time to the swaying rhyme
    Of the lilting opera air.

And one who sat in the dark somewhere,
With her wan face hid by her falling hair,
    And her hands clasped over her eyes;
And the sickening pain of heart and brain
    Breathed out in long-drawn sighs.

One in the sheen of her opera suit;
And one who was swathed from head to foot,
    In crepe of the blackest dye.
One hiding her heart and playing a p...

Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Noon

As some contented bird doth coo
    She trilled a song of fond delight,
    The while she spread the cloth of white,
And set the cups and plates for two.

She leaned beyond the window sill,
    And looked along the busy street,
    And listened for his coming feet.
The skies were calm, the winds were still.

'O love, my love, why art thou late?
    The kettle boils, the cloth is spread,
    The clock points close to noon,' she said.
O clock of time!    O clock of fate!

She heard the moon's glad sound of cheer;
    (The hiss, the whirl, the crash, the creak,
    Of maddened wheels, the awful shriek
Of awestruck men -she did not hear.)

She lightly tripped about the room,
    And near the window, where his eyes
    Might greet it w...

Ella Wheeler Wilcox