Poem: “Through Tears” by Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Poems of Power

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American Literature – American Poetry – Ella Wheeler Wilcox – Poems by Ella Wheeler Wilcox – Poems of Power
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Through Tears

An artist toiled over his pictures;
   He laboured by night and by day,
He struggled for glory and honour
   But the world, it had nothing to say.
His walls were ablaze with the splendours
   We see in the beautiful skies;
But the world beheld only the colours
   That were made out of chemical dyes.

Time sped. And he lived, loved, and suffered;
   He passed through the valley of grief.
Again he toiled over his canvas,
   Since in labour alone was relief.
It showed not the splendour of colours
   Of those of his earlier years;
But the world? the world bowed down before it
   Because it was painted with tears.

A poet was gifted with genius,
   And he sang, and he sang all the days.
He wrote for the praise of the people,
   But the people accorded no praise.
Oh! his songs were as blithe as the morning,
   As sweet as the music of birds;
But the world had no homage to offer,
   Because they were nothing but words.

Time sped. And the poet through sorrow
   Became like his suffering kind.
Again he toiled over his poems
   To lighten the grief of his mind.
They were not so flowing and rhythmic
   As those of his earlier years;
But the world? lo! it offered its homage,
   Because they were written in tears.

So ever the price must be given
   By those seeking glory in art;
So ever the world is repaying
   The grief-stricken, suffering heart.
The happy must ever be humble;
   Ambition must wait for the years
Ere hoping to win the approval
   Of a world that looks on through its tears.

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American Literature – American Poetry – Ella Wheeler Wilcox – Poems by Ella Wheeler Wilcox – Poems of Power

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Poems of Power

Through Tears

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