Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Ella Wheeler Wilcox – Life, Works, and Legacy

Discover the life and poetry of Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1850–1919), the American poet known for her optimistic and sentimental verse. Learn about her early years, major works, spiritual interests, famous lines, and the impact she left on popular poetry.

Introduction

Ella Wheeler Wilcox (November 5, 1850 – October 30, 1919) was an American poet, author, and journalist whose writings were immensely popular in her time.

Though often dismissed by literary critics, Wilcox connected deeply with ordinary readers through clear, rhyming verse infused with optimism, sentiment, and spiritualist elements. Her lines—perhaps most memorably, “Laugh, and the world laughs with you; weep, and you weep alone”—remain part of popular memory.

In this article, we explore her biography, literary style, major works, spiritual outlook, and what lessons her life offers today.

Early Life and Family

Ella Wheeler was born on November 5, 1850 in a rural setting near Johnstown, in Rock County, Wisconsin (sometimes cited as “Johnstown Center”). She was the youngest of four children.

Her family was once relatively prosperous but suffered financial difficulties when her father’s business ventures failed. They moved north of Madison, Wisconsin, during Ella’s youth.

From a young age, she loved reading. Her mother encouraged her interest in literature, and she devoured works by Shakespeare, The Arabian Nights, Gulliver’s Travels, and other accessible classics.

Wilcox was educated in local district schools and later attended the University of Wisconsin for one year (1867–1868), before deciding to focus entirely on writing.

By her teenage years, her poetry was already being published in regional magazines.

Literary Career & Major Works

Early Poetry & Breakthrough

Wilcox’s first published book was Drops of Water (1872), a collection of temperance poems. She then published Shells (1873), Maurine (1876), and various smaller volumes.

Her major breakthrough came with Poems of Passion (1883). That collection (containing love and emotional verse) was initially rejected by one publisher for being “immoral,” which stirred public interest. After its eventual publication, Poems of Passion sold prolifically—some sources report 60,000 copies in two years.

Wilcox’s style was relatively plain, rhyming, emotionally direct, and accessible, which helped her gain broad readership.

She also wrote prose—novels, short fiction, essays, and journalism. Notable prose works include Mal Moulée (1885), A Double Life (1890), Sweet Danger (1892), and A Woman of the World (1904).

She published autobiographical works as well: The Story of a Literary Career (1905) and The Worlds and I (1918).

She contributed poems and essays to magazines such as Cosmopolitan and newspaper syndications.

Later Themes & Spiritual Writings

Later in life, Wilcox’s interests shifted toward spiritualism, theosophy, and the New Thought movement. After her husband’s death in 1916, she publicly sought communication with his spirit and wove her convictions about life after death into her writing.

One of her pamphlets, What I Know About New Thought (1902), sold widely and reflected her spiritual philosophy.

Wilcox also engaged in social causes: she supported temperance, animal rights, and was concerned about alleviating suffering.

Near the end of her life, she made a lecture and poetry-reading tour of U.S. Army camps in France during World War I.

Style, Themes & Reception

Wilcox’s poetry is often sentimental, optimistic, and morally affirmative. She favored clear rhyme and meter, accessible diction, and expressions of love, faith, perseverance, and hope.

Her most famous poem is “Solitude”, which begins:

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.

Another well-known poem is “The Winds of Fate”, opening with the lines:

One ship drives east and another drives west
With the selfsame winds that blow;
’Tis the set of the sails, and not the gales,
That tells us the way to go.

While beloved by general readers, Wilcox’s work was often dismissed by critics as overly sentimental or lacking depth. Indeed, none of her works were included in the Oxford Book of American Verse by F. O. Matthiesen, though some of her poems were picked for popular anthologies.

Her public appeal, however, was strong: she sold widely, had a steady readership, and exerted influence in popular culture in her era.

Later Life & Death

In 1884, Ella Wheeler married Robert M. Wilcox. They lived in Connecticut, New York, and built residences along Long Island Sound in Short Beach (in Branford, Connecticut). They had one son, but he died shortly after birth.

Her husband died in 1916. The loss deeply affected her and led her further into spiritualist pursuits.

Wilcox continued writing and lecturing until her health declined. She died on October 30, 1919, at her home in Short Beach, Connecticut. Her death is sometimes attributed to cancer.

Famous Quotes

Here are several lines and passages often attributed to Ella Wheeler Wilcox:

• “Laugh, and the world laughs with you; weep, and you weep alone.” (from Solitude)

• “One ship drives east and another drives west / With the selfsame winds that blow … ’Tis the set of the sails, and not the gales, that tells us the way to go.” (from The Winds of Fate)

• “In talking with Max Heindel … 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.” (a passage from her spiritualist reflections)

• “The art of being kind is her religion, and she lived it every day of her life.” (from a biographical account)

Wilcox’s quotations are often cited in eloquence collections, greeting cards, and popular culture, even if the original poems are not always closely read today.

Legacy & Influence

• Ella Wheeler Wilcox remains a figure in the history of popular American poetry—her name is more familiar to general readers than many of her contemporaries.

• Her lines, particularly from Solitude, continue to circulate widely and are frequently quoted in public media, speeches, and everyday discourse.

• Though critics often undervalued her, her career demonstrates how poetry can find a broad audience when it addresses universal emotions, hope, and resilience.

• Her engagement with spiritualism and New Thought reflects a strand of early 20th-century American religious and metaphysical belief, linking poetry with metaphysical optimism.

• Her life offers a model of a poet who balanced popular appeal, spiritual conviction, and resilience amid personal loss.

Lessons from Ella Wheeler Wilcox

1. Write for connection
   Wilcox’s success came from speaking plainly and empathetically. She shows that clarity and emotional truth can reach many hearts.

2. Embrace your voice
   Even when critics dismissed her, she maintained her style and convictions—confidence in one’s voice can endure.

3. Grief and creativity can coexist
   Her response to her husband’s death illustrates how loss can deepen spiritual and creative exploration.

4. The popular and the profound can mingle
   Wilcox bridged popular taste with metaphysical reflection; she reminds us that depth need not be recondite.

5. Legacy isn’t only in the canonical
   Though not canonized in elite poetry anthologies, Wilcox’s impact in popular culture and memory is real—and lasting.

Conclusion

Ella Wheeler Wilcox was not a poet of the literary establishment, but she remains a poet of the people. Her clear verse, her belief in positivity, her spiritual aspirations, and her resilience in the face of personal sorrow created a body of work that resonated with large audiences in her time—and still finds occasional echo today.