YOU NEED TO KNOW

FORTITUDE

Ella Wheeler Wilcox

 

Laugh, and the world will 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 in 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 one can help you die.

There is room hall of pleasure,

For a long and lordly train,

But no one we all file on

Through the narrow aisles of pain.