Ella Wheeler Wilcox1850-1919

The Blue Stockings-Annie Butterfield ~ Wendi Hansen ~ Karylana

Jones ~ Amelia YoungU.S. Diverse Women Writers ~ Women Write

the World

Little Mothers of Men to BeWHETHER you frolic with comrade boys,

Or sit at your studies or play with toys;Whatever your station or place or sphere,For just one purpose God sent you here;

And always and ever you are to meDear little Mothers of Men to be.

So would I guard you from all mean things;From the dwarfing of wealth and from poverty’s stings;

And from silly mothers of fuss and showAnd from dissolute fathers whose aims are low

I would take you and shield you and set you free,Dear little Mothers of Men to be.

And then were the wish of my heart fulfilled,Around about you the world should build

A wall of wisdom, with Truth for its Tower,Where mind and body would wax with power

Till the tender twig was a splendid tree, Dear little Mothers of Men to be.

It is only a dream; but the world grows wise,And a mighty truth in the dream seed lies

That shall gladden the earth in its time and place:We must better the mothers to better the race!

“Little Mother’s of Men to Be”

~Published -Oct. 1912Ladies’ Home Journal~Believed, “a woman’s highest calling was to be a wife and mother.” ~The way to achieve change in the world was through the mothers that raised the future generations.

Purpose Behind Poetry

~Ella believed, “poetry stemmed from a feeling & should serve social rather than merely aesthetic purposes.”

~As seen in “Little Mothers of Men to Be” and Warning soldiers against venereal disease- “Soldiers, Come Home Clean”

~Wrote verity of poems ranging from anti-war poems, patriotic pro-war poems, children poems, female physical desire, divorce poems, to poems using racial stereotypes to bring about change.~Accomplished, educated (although felt college was a waste of her time), feminist, & a powerful role model to women.

~By combining marriage and a successful career as a poet. Showing that you don’t have to sacrifice one to do the other.

Upbringing

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Marriage &

Family

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Inspiration~Wilcox was a true optimist. She

wrote over and over again about the triumph of the human spirit. She

gave hope where there was despair. She was like the sun that always

shines.~Ella was very persistent. She knew what she wanted and she went after

it.

Keys to

Ella’s Succe

ss

1. Motivated: Ella wanted to help her parents & to raise her status. She did not want to be a starving artist – she wanted to get ahead.2. Ambitious: Ella was all for Progress in America.3. Productive: Ella churned out her poems, worked hard, persevered, & flooded the magazines & papers with her work.4. Optimistic: Ella remained optimistic, believing in herself & her work.5. Informed: Ella was a world traveler. She had been to exotic places, yet still spoke to the hearts of housewives who had never been anywhere to speak of – she knew their hearts from personal experience.6. Occultism: Ella spoke to many women who had lost husbands & sons in the war and who longed to reach them.7. Generosity: Ella was always willing to give of herself, to offer advice to those in need.8. Circumstances: Poetry was popular in newspapers and magazines of the day.

Legacy

•  The first stanza of “The Man Worth While” is parodied in the movie Caddy Shack when the character Judge Smails (played by Ted Knight) reads the following at the christening of his yacht:

“It’s easy to grin when your ship comes in

And you’ve got the stock market beat.

But the man worthwhile is the man who can smile

When his shorts are too tight in the seat.” 

• The first stanza of her poem “The Man Worth While” can be found in Disney’s Hollywood Studios, in the boiler room portion of the queue for the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror.

• Oliver Stone’s movie JFK opens with a quote from her: “To sin by silence when we should protest makes cowards out of men.”• Her poem, “Over the Banisters” was adapted into a song for Judy Garland in the film “Meet Me in St. Louis.”