I had always assumed that “Laugh and the world laughs with you, cry and you cry alone” was just an old saying found on eternally-reblogged Tumblr pictures and the covers of overpriced diaries at Barnes & Noble. But as Heather was quick to inform me, it’s actually part of a longer work: “Solitude” by Edna Wheeler Wilcox. Rather than what would first appear to be a call for joy and focusing on the positive things in life, it turns out to be a bitterly depressing portrayal of the stark isolation of pain:
Laugh, and the world laughs with you;
Weep, and you weep alone.
For the sad old earth must borrow its mirth,
But has trouble enough of its own.
Sing, and the hills will answer;
Sigh, it is lost on the air.
The echoes bound to a joyful sound,
But shrink from voicing care.Rejoice, and men will seek you;
Grieve, and they turn and go.
They want full measure of all your pleasure,
But they do not need your woe.
Be glad, and your friends are many;
Be sad, and you lose them all.
There are none to decline your nectared wine,
But alone you must drink life’s gall.Feast, and your halls are crowded;
Fast, and the world goes by.
Succeed and give, and it helps you live,
But no man can help you die.
There is room in the halls of pleasure
For a long and lordly train,
But one by one we must all file on
Through the narrow aisles of pain.
Ultimately, the central message seems to be less like “Cheer up!”, and more like “Fuck people.”
9 comments
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BK
July 5, 2012 at 9:28 PM (UTC -4) Link to this comment
I don’t think it’s really judging people,”For the sad old earth must borrow its mirth, But has trouble enough of its own,” just pointing out a tough reality.
Cuttlefish
July 5, 2012 at 10:07 PM (UTC -4) Link to this comment
I miss the days when poetry rhymed.
John Conolley
July 6, 2012 at 12:18 AM (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Funny. I was just thinking she let rhyme run away with her.
F
July 6, 2012 at 12:03 AM (UTC -4) Link to this comment
I had no idea. Awesome.
tricster
July 6, 2012 at 5:46 AM (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Fantastic, a poem with a message I can really get behind!
Also, I had no idea of the full poem, and that makes me feel slightly guilty about that. Only slightly, since it has now been remedied.
fester60613
July 6, 2012 at 11:11 AM (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Bitter and depressing for sure. I can’t stand this poem – it threatens to leap at me and tear off those scabs!
ttch
July 6, 2012 at 6:19 PM (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Not a poem exactly, but I found equally sad:
I’ve been to your cities, I didn’t stay long by Kate Beaton
It’s the boat at the end…
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