Author Description

Born on November 5th 1850 in Johnstown, Wisconsin, Ella Wheeler was the youngest of four children. She began to write as a child and by the time she graduated was already well known as a poet throughout Wisconsin. Regarded more as a popular poet than a literary poet her most famous work 'Solitude' reflects on a train journey she made where giving comfort to a distressed fellow traveller she wrote how the others grief imposed itself for a time on her 'Laugh and the world laughs with you, Weep and you weep alone'. It was published in 1883 and was immensely popular. The following year, 1884, she married Robert Wilcox. They lived for a time in New York before moving to Connecticut. Their only child, a son, died shortly after birth. Here we publish one of her many poetry books, Custer & Other Poems, that so endeared her to her audience. Ella died of breast cancer on October 30th, 1919. Index Of Poems Worth while The House of Life A Song of Life Prayer In the Long Run As you go through Life Two Sunsets Unrest Artist's life Nothing but Stones Inevitable The Ocean of Song "It might have been" Momus, God of Laughter I Dream The Sonnet The Past A Dream Uselessness Will Winter Rain Life Burdened Let them go Five Kisses Retrospection Helena Nothing Remains Comrades What Gain? To the West The Land of Content Warning After the Battles are over And they are dumb Night All for me Into Space Through Dim Eyes The Punished Half Fledged The Year The Unattained In the crowd Life and I Guerdon Snowed Under "Leudemanns-on-the-river" Little Blue Hood No Spring Midsummer A Reminiscence A Girl's Faith Two Slipping Away Is it done? A Leaf Aesthetic Poems of the Week Ghosts Fleeing away All mad Hidden Gems By-and-bye Over the May Hill Foes Friendship Two sat down Bound and free