ACCUSTOMED, CEREMONIOUS
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| Circa 1918 |
When the name of Ella Wheeler Wilcox came up recently, it sounded so familiar to me. Yet I could not place a particular poem of hers that I might know. I word-searched through all my blogs --
--but nothing appeared. Then -- coincidence! -- the very next day, Gerry was looking for an old notebook from his grandfather — which we never did find. However, in a stack of old gift books from his grandfather’s house, we found this:
and room to write down birthdays,
(such as Gerry’s name above)
and some by his sister Tina:
~ Whose book was this in the first place? ~
. . . remains unsolved because Gerry cannot think
of any relatives called Babs or Ted . . .
As so often happens, one connection quickly leads to another! Thanks to my friend ~ Beata for sharing the following poem, in which Wilcox's "people who lean" are reminiscent of
the meek, who gambled nothing,
gave nothing, and could never receive enough.”
[in John Ciardi's poem, "In Place of a Curse"]
Wilcox's poem, "Two Kinds of People," came to Beata's attention by way of J. C. Maxwell's The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership. Maxwell mentions that his mother used to recite this poem to him often:
Two Kinds of People
There are two kinds of people on earth to-day;
Just two kinds of people, no more I say.
Not the sinner and saint, for it's well understood
The good are half bad and the bad are half good.
Not the rich and the poor, for to rate a man's wealth,
You must first know the state of his conscience and health.
Not the humble and proud, for in life's little span,
Who puts on vain airs, is not counted a man.
Not the happy and sad, for the swift flying years
Bring each man his laughter end each man his tears.
No; the two kinds of people on earth I mean
Are the people who lift and the people who lean.
Wherever you go you will find the earth's masses
Are always divided in just these two classes.
And oddly enough, you will find, too, I ween,
There's only one lifter to twenty who lean.
In which class are you? Are you easing the load
Of overtaxed lifters who toil down the road?
Or are you a leaner who lets others bear
Your portion of labor and worry and care?
by Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1850 - 1919)
near the City Lights Bookstore, San Francisco
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Another connection,
in recognition of Valentine's Day:
a few love poems from Ella Wheeler Wilcox:
I Love You
Attraction
Love's Language
What Love Is
Friendship After Love
The New Love
Time and Love
And this one about
The Revolt of Vashti
[See my QK post: Don't Mess With Esther]
Next Fortnightly Post
Tuesday, February 28th
Between now and then, read
THE QUOTIDIAN KIT
my shorter, almost daily blog posts
www.dailykitticarriker.blogspot.com
Looking for a good book? Try
KITTI'S LIST
my running list of recent reading
www.kittislist.blogsppot.com
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