 | Poems (1806) |  |
203
SONNET XI. TO THE SAME. [A COLLEGE FRIEND]
When Death, cruel stroke, dissolves the tye
Which holds in friendship a congenial heart;
We bid the long adieu with streaming eye,
And pour the impassion'd sorrows ere we part.
Yet, though we grieve, the inevitable ill,
Ere long, with soften'd anguish we endure:
For time the throbbing pulse hath power to still,
And close the wound which reason could not cure.
But if the averted look too plainly tell
Constrain'd civilities from those we love;
If all our warmth the frigid air repel,
'Tis ours (the wish sincere, though heaven approve)
A slow-consuming heart-ake to sustain,
Whilst each cold look renews the sense of pain!
Which holds in friendship a congenial heart;
We bid the long adieu with streaming eye,
And pour the impassion'd sorrows ere we part.
Yet, though we grieve, the inevitable ill,
Ere long, with soften'd anguish we endure:
For time the throbbing pulse hath power to still,
And close the wound which reason could not cure.
But if the averted look too plainly tell
Constrain'd civilities from those we love;
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'Tis ours (the wish sincere, though heaven approve)
A slow-consuming heart-ake to sustain,
Whilst each cold look renews the sense of pain!
P.
In his “Epistle to a College Friend,” Mr. P. contrasts those cold civilities with the warmth of College friendship.
------ “Yet, unchill'd“Gay fancy sparkled, as our glasses fill'd:
“Then the fair outline of our hopes we drew,
“And fondly nurs'd them, as each figure grew;
“Sketch'd for our different friends the future plan,
“And form'd our systems, as our wishes ran;
“Contented crown'd a living with a wife,
“Nor mark'd the varied ills that chequer life;
“View'd, halcyon-bright, domestic ease appear,
“Nor saw pale grief distain it with a tear;
“Bade the sweet pledges of affection rise,
“To melting blushes, and entrancing eyes;
“Pictur'd the bliss of love's romantic morn,
“And prest the rosy couch without a thorn!
“But ah! too soon the dear delusive dream
“Fled with the golden groves of Academe!
“Too soon, in scenes of vulgar life, I found
“The hoarfrost scatter'd by indifference round;
“While envy's cloud diffus'd its sullen gloom,
“And blasts from avarice nipp'd young fancy's bloom.”
See Polwhele's Poems.
| Poems (1806) | |