Ella Wheeler Wilcox | |
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.jpg) Wilcox in 1915 | |
| Born | (1850-11-05)November 5, 1850 Johnstown, Wisconsin, U.S. |
| Died | October 30, 1919(1919-10-30) (aged 68) Branford, Connecticut, U.S. |
| Occupation(s) | Author, poet |
| Signature | |
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Ella Wheeler Wilcox (November 5, 1850 – October 30, 1919) was an American author and poet. Her works include the collectionPoems of Passion and the poem "Solitude", which contains the lines "Laugh, and the world laughs with you; weep, and you weep alone." Her autobiography,The Worlds and I, was published in 1918, a year before her death.
Ella Wheeler was born in 1850 on a farm inJohnstown,Wisconsin, east ofJanesville, the youngest of four children. The family later moved north ofMadison, after losing its wealth, as the result of her father's failed business aspirations and speculation. Wilcox's family held themselves to be intellectuals, and a mastery of the nuances of the English language was prized. During her childhood, Wilcox amused herself by reading books and newspapers, which may have influenced her later writing (most notablyWilliam Shakespeare,The Arabian Nights,The Diverting History of John Gilpin andGulliver's Travels, in addition to the few other pieces of literature that were to be had in her home).
Around the age of 8, Wilcox turned to writing poetry as an outlet. When she was 13 years old, her first poem was published. After losing her subscription toThe New York Mercury, and being unable to afford to resubscribe, Wilcox thought that if she could get a piece of literature published, she would at least receive a copy of the paper wherein her piece was printed. The piece that she submitted is lost, and Wilcox later admitted that she could not recall even the topic of the poem. Wilcox became known as a poet in her own state by the time she graduated from high school.[1] She was educated in a country school and attendedMadison University for one year before asking her mother to return home.[2]
Her poem "The Way of the World" was first published in the February 25, 1883, issue ofThe New York Sun. The inspiration for the poem came as she was travelling to attend the Governor's inaugural ball inMadison, Wisconsin. On her way to the celebration, there was a young woman dressed in black sitting across the aisle from her. The woman was crying. Miss Wheeler sat next to her and sought to comfort her for the rest of the journey. When they arrived, the poet was so depressed that she could barely attend the scheduled festivities. As she looked at her own radiant face in the mirror, she suddenly recalled the sorrowful widow. It was at that moment that she wrote the opening lines of "Solitude":
She sent the poem to theSun and received $5 for her effort. It was collected in the bookPoems of Passion shortly afterward in May 1883. This collection was reported to have made $2000 that year.[3]
In 1884, she married Robert M. Wilcox ofMeriden, Connecticut,[2][4] where the couple lived before moving toNew York City and then to Granite Bay in theShort Beach section ofBranford, Connecticut. The two homes they built onLong Island Sound, along with several cottages, became known as Bungalow Court, and they would hold gatherings there of literary and artistic friends.[5] They had one child, a son, who died shortly after birth. Not long after their marriage, they both became interested inTheosophy,New Thought, andSpiritualism.
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Early in their married life, Robert and Ella Wheeler Wilcox promised each other that whoever died first would return and communicate with the other. Robert Wilcox died in 1916, after over thirty years of marriage. She was overcome with grief, which became ever more intense as week after week went without any message from him. It was at this time that she went toCalifornia to see theRosicrucian astrologer,Max Heindel, still seeking help in her sorrow, still unable to understand why she had no word from her Robert. She wrote of this meeting:
In talking withMax Heindel, the leader of theRosicrucian Philosophy in California, he made very clear to me the effect of intense grief. Mr. Heindel assured me that I would come in touch with the spirit of my husband when I learned to control my sorrow. I replied that it seemed strange to me that an omnipotent God could not send a flash of his light into a suffering soul to bring its conviction when most needed. Did you ever stand beside a clear pool of water, asked Mr. Heindel, and see the trees and skies repeated therein? And did you ever cast a stone into that pool and see it clouded and turmoiled, so it gave no reflection? Yet the skies and trees were waiting above to be reflected when the waters grew calm. So God and your husband's spirit wait to show themselves to you when the turbulence of sorrow is quieted.
Several months later she composed amantra or affirmative prayer which she said over and over "I am the living witness: The dead live: And they speak through us and to us: And I am the voice that gives this glorious truth to the suffering world: I am ready, God: I am ready, Christ: I am ready, Robert."
Wilcox made efforts to teach occult things to the world. Her works, filled with positive thinking, were popular in theNew Thought Movement and by 1915 her booklet,What I Know About New Thought had a distribution of 50,000 copies, according to its publisher,Elizabeth Towne.
The following statement expresses Wilcox's unique blending of New Thought, Spiritualism, and a Theosophical belief in reincarnation: "As we think, act, and live here today, we build the structures of our homes in spirit realms after we leave earth, and we build karma for future lives, thousands of years to come, on this earth or other planets. Life will assume new dignity, and labor new interest for us, when we come to the knowledge that death is but a continuation of life and labor, in higher planes."
Her final words in her autobiographyThe Worlds and I: "From this mighty storehouse (of God, and the hierarchies of Spiritual Beings) we may gather wisdom and knowledge, and receive light and power, as we pass through this preparatory room of earth, which is only one of the innumerable mansions in our Father's house. Think on these things."
Wilcox was an advocate ofanimal rights andvegetarianism.[6][7] She died on October 30, 1919, at her "The Bungalow" home inBranford.[2] She was cremated.[8]
None of Wilcox's works were included byF. O. Matthiessen inThe Oxford Book of American Verse, butHazel Felleman chose fourteen of her poems forBest Loved Poems of the American People, whileMartin Gardner selected "The Way Of The World" and "The Winds of Fate" forBest Remembered Poems.
She is cited in the anthology of bad poetry,Very Bad Poetry.Sinclair Lewis indicatesBabbitt's lack of literary sophistication by having him refer to a piece of verse as "one of the classic poems, like 'If—' byKipling, or Ella Wheeler Wilcox's 'The Man Worth While.'"The latter opens:
Her poem "Solitude" opens:
The Winds of Fate
Wheeler Wilcox cared about alleviating animal suffering, as can be seen from her poem, "Voice of the Voiceless". It begins as follows:[10]
She made an appearance duringWorld War I in France, reciting her poem,The Stevedores ("Here's to the Army stevedores, lusty virile and strong...") while visiting a camp of 9,000US Armystevedores.[11]
Several of Wilcox's poems were the basis for silent films:
The titles for the ten episodes of the final, fifth season of the science fiction television seriesOrphan Black come from Wilcox's poem, "Protest".[18]
The lines "Laugh and the world laughs with you / Weep, and you weep alone" from Wilcox's poem "Solitude" feature several times in the 2003 Korean thriller filmOldboy.[citation needed]
Margaret Thatcher in a TV interview withDavid Frost, aired 12th June 1995 onBBC One, quoted lines for "the set of the sail and not the gale" from theWinds of Fate as illustrating that "it is not the circumstances that you see in life, but the way you approach them, the set of your own personality, that determines how you can go forwards".
