Solitude By Lla Wheeler Bugude Poem

Solitude, “Laugh, and the world laughs with you; weep and you weep alone;” Here is laid bear the paths of solitude and the plights of sorrow. By opening the poem describing the universally known effects of two quite potent emotions, Ella Wheeler Wilcox draws the reader in with familiar experiences. The poem also portrays the light tread of those untroubled by woe, for friends who don’t exist cannot be missed, nor do those who are friendless ever cease to dwell on the past and those times when they did not fair alone. The contrast between the solitary and social lines of the poem emphasizes the sad and solitary theme by describing that which the travelers in solitude no longer have. The flow and rhythm of the words in Solitude etch an image of remembered friendship and lonesomeness into the mind that all might recognize and that most will realize.

Wilcox’s rhyme scheme adds a joyful quality to the poem, but also creates a rhythm that suggests the slow measure of time. This image of people counting the hours of their solitude is emphasized in the lines, “But one by one we must all file on” the one by one count also creates a dirge-like effect and puts one in mind of a funeral march. This counting effect appears strongest in every other pair of lines, in which the rhymes are most effective. This suggests the repetitive nature of solitude and sorrow, and the passing of time, and the coming and going of friends. Most of the lines joined by rhyming speak of solitude, which may be represented in the separation of the rhymed words. Whereas the internal rhymes mostly confer a sense of happier times which may be seen in that these rhymes are not divided from their partners nor the people from their friends. Solitude uses rhythm and rhyme to...

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...ionship, rather than sorrow and loneliness, and emphasizes the sociable portent of the lines. The various rhyme schemes in Solitude make the poem easier to read and bring the kaleidoscope of emotions associated with isolation that Wilcox tries to describe into focus.

Solitude utilizes a broad range of literary techniques to define, with precision, the anguish and dejection of those who succumbed to sorrow and solitude. The rhythm and rhyme of the poem make the reader aware of the slow passage of time, accentuating the lonesome mood and funeral-like aspect of the words. With her words, Ella Wheeler Wilcox paints an image of a grim path falling eventually into death with nothing but the memories of friendlier times. Solitude is the lament of those sad figures, who are doomed to tread “the narrow aisles of pain” alone, until strong will saves them, or death takes them.