"Which Are You?" by Ella Wheeler Wilcox

 

Which Are You?

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 and 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 share

Your portion of labor, and worry and care?

Enjoy the poem with beautiful music.

poem video👇

https://youtu.be/mYpN-eKMuxU

Who wrote the poem "Which Are You?"

Ella Wheeler Wilcox (November 5, 1850 – October 30, 1919)

Ella Wheeler Wilcox was an American author and poet who wrote “Solitude,” which contains the famous lines “Laugh, and the world laughs with you; weep, and you weep alone.” Popular among people rather than among literary critics, she often displayed in her poems cheerful and optimistic sentiments in plain and rhyming words. After she married Robert Wilcox in 1884, the couple became interested in spiritualism and promised each other that whoever died first would return and communicate with the other. After her husband died in 1916 after over 30 years of marriage, she was overwhelmed by grief and waited long to hear from her deceased husband in vain. She also believed in reincarnation. She died of cancer in 1919.

"Which Are You?" explanation

Some people always make things worse, dragging people around them down. Only a few will make noble sacrifices to make other people’s lives better. Ordinary people sometimes try to help others and other times become a burden to others. Which are you?