Poems and One Quote

This, my friends and beloved family, is Ella Wheeler Wilcox. She wrote the poem below and I think she must have been a big time smarty pants because this poem holds some timeless truth.

Solitude
by Ella Wheeler Wilcox

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.
For there is room in the halls of pleasure
For a large and lordly train,
But one by one we must all file on
Through the narrow aisles of pain.

So, today I leave you with two good poems and a wise quotation. I hope you enjoy them!

Well, again. I really like nice people and Robert Burns looks VERY nice, doesn't he? I found a famous poem this morning and it reminded me of my fifth grade Valentine's Day dress (and only Valentine's Day dress) that my mother sewed for me. It was a print with "My love is like a red, red rose" written all over it. So many kids asked, "What's that mean?" and I said, "I don't really know!" but I will never forget it and here is the lovely poem:

A Red, Red Rose
by Robert Burns

O my luve's like a red, red rose,
That's newly sprung in June;
O my luve's like the melodie
That's sweetly played in tune.

O fair art thou, my bonnie lass,
So deep in luve am I;
And I will luve thee still, my dear,
Till a'the seas gang dry

Till a' the seas gang dry, my dear,
And the rocks melt wi'the sun:
O I will luve thee still, my dear,
When the sands o'life shall run.

And fare thee weel, my only luve,
And fare thee weel awhile!
And I will come again, my luve,
Though it were ten thousand mile.

Beautiful, don't you think?

"Know first, who you are; and then adorn yourself accordingly."
~Epictetus

Well, this is a challenge for me. I want to make skirts to wear with pants (like the women from India who dress traditionally wear) and I love big pockets (it's the clown in me) and I really like tent-like dresses in quilting store calico but I'm sort of afraid to dress that way, because (SHOOT!) I DO care what people think and as much as I try to shake that off, I can't seem to! I read an article in Reader's Digest years ago in which a woman wore a fat suit and old lady clothes as an experiment. She wished to see if she'd be treated differently and (shocker!) she WAS. I guess I'm still too fragile in my self esteem to be the Bohemian I want to be. What do you think? Any advice? Words of wisdom? Brad? Kelli? Jeff? Jenny? Bill? (that's the good family line up) sweet fellow bloggers? Friends who love me enough to read this? Mom? Karol? Kristi? Laura? Amy? Please comment about the poems, too! Thank you for reading today and I absolutely REJOICE when I get comments and the bloggers are VERY nice people!