Ella Wheeler Wilcox: Difference between revisions
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'''Ella Wheeler Wilcox''' ([[November 5]], 1850 – [[October 30]], 1919) was an American poet and journalist who was keenly interested in [[Theosophy]], [[New Thought]], and [[Spiritualism]]. | [[File:Ella Wheeler Wilcox circa 1919.jpg|right|220px|thumb|Ella Wheeler Wilcox, ca1919]] | ||
'''Ella Wheeler Wilcox''' ([[November 5]], 1850 – [[October 30]], 1919) was an American poet and journalist who was keenly interested in [[Theosophy]], [[New Thought]], and [[Spiritualism]]. An enormously popular writer whose verses were criticized by the academic world, her most famous lines are still quoted from her poem "Solitude": | |||
::'''Laugh and the world laughs with you''' | |||
::::'''Weep, and you weep alone.''' | |||
== Personal life == | == Personal life == | ||
| Line 7: | Line 11: | ||
Mrs. Wilcox was admitted as a member of the [[American Theosophical Society]] on October 14, 1913 in New Haven, Connecticut.<ref>Membership Ledger Cards. Microfilm roll 8. Theosophical Society in America Archives.</ref> Her autobiography, ''The Worlds and I'', makes mentions of Theosophy, [[Elliott Coues]], [[Emily Lutyens]], and [[L. W. Rogers]].<ref>Ella Wheeler Wilcox. ''The Worlds and I''. New York: George H. Doran Company, 1918. Available at [http://books.google.com/books/about/The_Worlds_and_I.html?id=BBJIU0v_gyUC Google eBooks].</ref> | Mrs. Wilcox was admitted as a member of the [[American Theosophical Society]] on October 14, 1913 in New Haven, Connecticut.<ref>Membership Ledger Cards. Microfilm roll 8. Theosophical Society in America Archives.</ref> Her autobiography, ''The Worlds and I'', makes mentions of Theosophy, [[Elliott Coues]], [[Emily Lutyens]], and [[L. W. Rogers]].<ref>Ella Wheeler Wilcox. ''The Worlds and I''. New York: George H. Doran Company, 1918. Available at [http://books.google.com/books/about/The_Worlds_and_I.html?id=BBJIU0v_gyUC Google eBooks].</ref> | ||
This poem appeared in [[The Theosophical Messenger (periodical)|''The Theosophical Messenger'']] in 1902 | This poem appeared in [[The Theosophical Messenger (periodical)|''The Theosophical Messenger'']] in 1902, cited by [[William John Walters]] as a good way to convey some concepts of [[Theosophy]] to children. | ||
<blockquote> | <blockquote> | ||
You never can tell what your thoughts may do, | You never can tell what your thoughts may do, | ||
::In bringing you hate or love, | ::In bringing you hate or love, | ||
For thoughts are things, and their airy wings | For thoughts are things, and their airy wings | ||
::Are swifter than carrier dove. | ::Are swifter than carrier dove. | ||
They follow the law of the universe – | They follow the law of the universe – | ||
::Each thing must create its kind – | ::Each thing must create its kind – And they speed o'er the track to bring you back. | ||
And they speed o'er the track to bring you back. | |||
::Whatever went out of your mind.<ref>William John Walters, ''The Theosophic Messenger'' 3.9 (June, 1902), p129.</ref> | ::Whatever went out of your mind.<ref>William John Walters, ''The Theosophic Messenger'' 3.9 (June, 1902), p129.</ref> | ||
</blockquote> | </blockquote> | ||
== Writing career == | == Writing career == | ||
| Line 26: | Line 28: | ||
Beginning with the publication of Poems of Passion in 1883 and continuing through the first decades of the twentieth century, Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1) was quite possibly the most commercially successful and most ridiculed poet in the English-speaking world. On the one hand, her popularity was indisputable; as her obituary in the London Times put it, she was "the most popular poet of either sex and of any age, read by thousands who never open Shakespeare" ("Death of Ella Wheeler Wilcox"). | Beginning with the publication of Poems of Passion in 1883 and continuing through the first decades of the twentieth century, Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1) was quite possibly the most commercially successful and most ridiculed poet in the English-speaking world. On the one hand, her popularity was indisputable; as her obituary in the London Times put it, she was "the most popular poet of either sex and of any age, read by thousands who never open Shakespeare" ("Death of Ella Wheeler Wilcox"). | ||
Yet her reputation was also bad, as the Literary Digest noted: "Few poets in American letters made so sudden and sensational a success as she did with her initial volume, 'Poems of Passion,' and most persons to whom such luck befell would not have had the staying power to pass through nearly a generation of more or less kindly treatment as a joke" ("Current Poetry" 38).<ref>Angela Sorby, "The Milwaukee School of Fleshly Poetry: Ella Wheeler Wilcox's Poems of Passion and Popular Aestheticism" ''Legacy: A Journal of American Women Writers'' posted 11/2/2018 in | Yet her reputation was also bad, as the Literary Digest noted: "Few poets in American letters made so sudden and sensational a success as she did with her initial volume, 'Poems of Passion,' and most persons to whom such luck befell would not have had the staying power to pass through nearly a generation of more or less kindly treatment as a joke" ("Current Poetry" 38).<ref>Angela Sorby, [https://www.questia.com/library/journal/1G1-202810288/the-milwaukee-school-of-fleshly-poetry-ella-wheeler "The Milwaukee School of Fleshly Poetry: Ella Wheeler Wilcox's Poems of Passion and Popular Aestheticism"] ''Legacy: A Journal of American Women Writers'' posted 11/2/2018 in Questia website].</ref> | ||
</blockquote> | </blockquote> | ||
Revision as of 17:03, 7 December 2018
Ella Wheeler Wilcox (November 5, 1850 – October 30, 1919) was an American poet and journalist who was keenly interested in Theosophy, New Thought, and Spiritualism. An enormously popular writer whose verses were criticized by the academic world, her most famous lines are still quoted from her poem "Solitude":
- Laugh and the world laughs with you
- Weep, and you weep alone.
- Laugh and the world laughs with you
Personal life
Theosophical Society involvement
Mrs. Wilcox was admitted as a member of the American Theosophical Society on October 14, 1913 in New Haven, Connecticut.[1] Her autobiography, The Worlds and I, makes mentions of Theosophy, Elliott Coues, Emily Lutyens, and L. W. Rogers.[2]
This poem appeared in The Theosophical Messenger in 1902, cited by William John Walters as a good way to convey some concepts of Theosophy to children.
You never can tell what your thoughts may do,
- In bringing you hate or love,
For thoughts are things, and their airy wings
- Are swifter than carrier dove.
They follow the law of the universe –
- Each thing must create its kind – And they speed o'er the track to bring you back.
- Whatever went out of your mind.[3]
Writing career
Beginning with the publication of Poems of Passion in 1883 and continuing through the first decades of the twentieth century, Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1) was quite possibly the most commercially successful and most ridiculed poet in the English-speaking world. On the one hand, her popularity was indisputable; as her obituary in the London Times put it, she was "the most popular poet of either sex and of any age, read by thousands who never open Shakespeare" ("Death of Ella Wheeler Wilcox").
Yet her reputation was also bad, as the Literary Digest noted: "Few poets in American letters made so sudden and sensational a success as she did with her initial volume, 'Poems of Passion,' and most persons to whom such luck befell would not have had the staying power to pass through nearly a generation of more or less kindly treatment as a joke" ("Current Poetry" 38).[4]
Writings
Her literary work enjoyed great popularity with the general public, and was much appreciated by Theosophists. Irish poet and educator Dr. James Cousins mentioned "Ella Wheeler Wilcox, who, if she be not conceded a place with the major poets, has influenced many thousands by her verses."[5]
Poetry
Articles and pamphlets
Her 1915 pamphlet What I Know About New Thought had a distribution of 50,000 copies. Mrs. Wilcox was widely published in popular magazines and newspapers, and she also had dozens of her poems and articles printed in Theosophical publications.The Union Index of Theosophical Periodicals lists 88 poems and articles by or about Mrs. Wilcox.
Additional resources
- Ella Wheeler Wilcox: American Poet & Journalist & Free Thinker at EllaWheelerWilcox.org website.
- Ella Wheeler Wilcox in Wikipedia.
- Ella Wheeler Wilcox in Poetry Foundation website.
- Ella Wheeler Wilcox Poems at Poetry Hunter website.
Notes
- ↑ Membership Ledger Cards. Microfilm roll 8. Theosophical Society in America Archives.
- ↑ Ella Wheeler Wilcox. The Worlds and I. New York: George H. Doran Company, 1918. Available at Google eBooks.
- ↑ William John Walters, The Theosophic Messenger 3.9 (June, 1902), p129.
- ↑ Angela Sorby, "The Milwaukee School of Fleshly Poetry: Ella Wheeler Wilcox's Poems of Passion and Popular Aestheticism" Legacy: A Journal of American Women Writers posted 11/2/2018 in Questia website].
- ↑ James H. Cousins, "The Life and Work of Jean Delville, Theosophist Painter-Poet." The Theosophist47.3 (December 1925), 396.