Poems of Passion (1883) is a collection by Ella Wheeler Wilcox. Refused by a Chicago publisher as immoral, it became a best-seller after the scandal, and includes Solitude, one of the most quoted poems in English.
The scandal
In 1883 the Chicago publisher Jansen, McClurg refused Wilcox's new collection, judging its love poems immoral. Newspapers seized on the story, especially in Chicago, and readers became eager to see the book.
Belford, Clarke & Co. published it the same year. It sold some sixty thousand copies within two years, a huge number for poetry.
Solitude
The best-known poem of the book, Solitude, first appeared in the New York Sun in February 1883. It contrasts the welcome the world gives to happiness with the loneliness of grief.
Its opening lines became a proverb in English, often quoted by people who have never heard of the author.
Reputation
Critics considered the book sentimental and daring, but its frank expression of feeling appealed to a vast public, especially women readers.
It established Wilcox as one of the most popular poets in America for the rest of her life.
Anecdotes
A disputed authorship
After Solitude became famous, a Washington lawyer, John A. Joyce, claimed he had written it years earlier. Wilcox produced evidence of her authorship, and his claim was not accepted.
Written on a train
Wilcox said the idea of Solitude came to her on a train to Madison, Wisconsin, after seeing a young widow weeping among cheerful fellow passengers.
Frequently asked questions
When was Poems of Passion published?
In 1883, in Chicago.
Why was it refused at first?
The publisher Jansen, McClurg found its love poems immoral.
Which famous poem does it contain?
Solitude, with its opening lines on laughter and tears.