 | The poetical works of Lucy Larcom |  |
267
BEFRIENDED.
My heart records thee friend, yet through no word
Spoken in side-by-side companionship:
Reproof or commendation from thy lip
Never my heart with pleasant trouble stirred
Because it was thy special gift to me;
A larger blessing have I won from thee.
Spoken in side-by-side companionship:
Reproof or commendation from thy lip
Never my heart with pleasant trouble stirred
Because it was thy special gift to me;
A larger blessing have I won from thee.
I heard thee speak out of diviner air
Than selfishness can breathe in, and I rose,
And saw the gates of heavenly truth unclose,
Glad with the multitude the feast to share,
Spread for all souls within. No narrow claim
Could wish of mine in that pure vision frame.
Than selfishness can breathe in, and I rose,
And saw the gates of heavenly truth unclose,
Glad with the multitude the feast to share,
Spread for all souls within. No narrow claim
Could wish of mine in that pure vision frame.
Thou didst befriend me, humbled at the sight
Of that great Love which penetrates the need
Of every feeblest creature; which indeed
Lifts back into the brotherhood of light
Benighted and neglected souls, to trace
Their God-like lineage in Christ's dear face.
Of that great Love which penetrates the need
Of every feeblest creature; which indeed
Lifts back into the brotherhood of light
Benighted and neglected souls, to trace
Their God-like lineage in Christ's dear face.
In that communion of unselfishness
Which is content its own delight to lose,
So through some weaker being to transfuse
The breath it lives by—that high blessedness
Wherein faith's answer is at last complete—
My soul arose, and went thy soul to meet.
Which is content its own delight to lose,
So through some weaker being to transfuse
The breath it lives by—that high blessedness
Wherein faith's answer is at last complete—
My soul arose, and went thy soul to meet.
How idle then seemed earth's small jealousies;
How pitiful the fret of “mine” and “thine”!
The delicate draught of adulation's wine,
The subtle poison of sweet flatteries,
Take nor bestow thou, friend, if thou wouldst know
How hearts in blessing hearts may overflow!
How pitiful the fret of “mine” and “thine”!
The delicate draught of adulation's wine,
The subtle poison of sweet flatteries,
Take nor bestow thou, friend, if thou wouldst know
How hearts in blessing hearts may overflow!
The world has not learned friendship's meaning yet;
Little indeed is all thou hast to give,
If it is but thine own; but bid me live
Largeness of life beyond thee, and my debt
Eternally uncanceled will remain,
And we, though strangers, have not met in vain.
Little indeed is all thou hast to give,
If it is but thine own; but bid me live
Largeness of life beyond thee, and my debt
Eternally uncanceled will remain,
And we, though strangers, have not met in vain.
Show me that aspiration need not die,
Nor faith put out its eyes to walk by sight;
Lead me into the freedom of the light,
And I could let thee pass on cheerfully
To souls whose need was greater, though thy face
Had been the sunshine of my dwelling place.
Nor faith put out its eyes to walk by sight;
Lead me into the freedom of the light,
And I could let thee pass on cheerfully
To souls whose need was greater, though thy face
Had been the sunshine of my dwelling place.
268
For friendship is not ours to lock away
In stifling chests, for fear of thievish hands;
It is a generous sun-warmth, that expands
The soul it flows through, turning night to day;
Light given to us to give abroad again,
Till none in unblessed darkness shall remain.
In stifling chests, for fear of thievish hands;
It is a generous sun-warmth, that expands
The soul it flows through, turning night to day;
Light given to us to give abroad again,
Till none in unblessed darkness shall remain.
A friend,—it is another name for God,
Whose love inspires all love, is all in all:
Profane it not, lest lowest shame befall!
Worship no idol, whether star or clod!
Nor think that any friend is truly thine,
Save as life's closest link with Love Divine.
Whose love inspires all love, is all in all:
Profane it not, lest lowest shame befall!
Worship no idol, whether star or clod!
Nor think that any friend is truly thine,
Save as life's closest link with Love Divine.
Thou art no stranger, thou whose soul I heard
Speak to my soul across earth's vexing din:
With thee I to the Holiest entered in;
Through thee I understood the Master's word,
Which the whole heavenly with the human blends
In deathless union:—“I have called you friends.”
Speak to my soul across earth's vexing din:
With thee I to the Holiest entered in;
Through thee I understood the Master's word,
Which the whole heavenly with the human blends
In deathless union:—“I have called you friends.”
| The poetical works of Lucy Larcom | |