The Way of the World by Ella Wheeler Wilcox

    The Way of the World

Laugh, and the world laughs with you,
Weep, and you weep alone,
For the brave 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 rebound to a joyful sound
And shrink from voicing care.

Rejoice, and men will seek you,
Grieve, and they turn and go;
They want full measure of your pleasure,
But they do not want 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.
Forget and forgive - it helps you to live,
But no man can help you to die;
There's room in the halls of pleasure
For a long and lordly train,
But one by one, we must all march on
Through the narrow aisle of pain.

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