Poems On several Occasions, and Translations Wherein The First and Second books of Virgil's Aeneis are attempted, In English. By Tho. Fletcher |
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Friendship. |
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 | Poems On several Occasions, and Translations |  |
Friendship.
He who (if any such) shall condescendWith worthless me to share the name of Friend,
May he, ye Pow'rs of Love, Oh! may he be
From fulsome Vice, and sow'r ill Nature free:
No too warm Passion in his Bosom reign,
Nor Pride, nor Envy his good Nature stain,
May he want Faults himself, and eas'ly pardon mine.
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He'll learn, by being forgiven, to forgive.
Stanch to our mutual Secrets let him be;
One I may trust, and one who dares trust me:
Not sullen, nor impertinently kind,
Whom Choice to me, not Chance or Int'rest, joyn'd:
Who rose from an Acquaintant to a Friend:
Not too unequal in Estate or Blood,
Lest Distance sneaking seem, or Freedome rude;
A friend to Thought and Books, and (might I chuse)
Not wholly unacquainted with a Muse.
One who (which Heav'n forbid) can cease to be
A Friend, yet not become an Enemy.
From ill Reports, who dares his utmost do,
To clear me when they're false, t'excuse me when they're true.
My Praise, when just, let him be free to speak,
But Flatt'ry let him scorn to give, or take.
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Yet censure not what others do or say:
Bold to reprove, when Vertue I offend,
Only to me, not to my Faults, a Friend.
Thus may we long hold Friendship, and adore
Only our Honour, and our Conscience more.
| Poems On several Occasions, and Translations | |