 | A Collection of Poems |  |
112
FRIENDSHIP.
The Friendship which no Time can e'er deface
It's Source is Virtue; Honour is it's Base.
No Fortune governs, and no Int'rest binds,
The social Bands of Love in noble Minds.
Low grov'ling Souls may wear the brutal Ties,
Of craving Sense, and avaricious Vice;
These soon are broke, with ev'ry turn of Fate
Then all the fierce Affection ends in Hate.
But nobler Views the lasting Laws maintain,
In gen'rous Breasts, where Truth and Honour reign;
There, purest Flames in native Lustre glow,
Purg'd from the grosser Elements below.
No close Reserves the social Heart controul,
But Freedom kindly opens out the Soul;
Nor sordid Int'rest checks the warm Desire
Nor taints the Thought, nor clouds the lambent Fire;
But in his Friend each gen'rous Man is blest,
And finds himself within Another's Breast;
For private Ends, true Friendship still denies,
When Self turns home, that Moment Friendship dies.
It's Source is Virtue; Honour is it's Base.
No Fortune governs, and no Int'rest binds,
The social Bands of Love in noble Minds.
Low grov'ling Souls may wear the brutal Ties,
Of craving Sense, and avaricious Vice;
These soon are broke, with ev'ry turn of Fate
Then all the fierce Affection ends in Hate.
But nobler Views the lasting Laws maintain,
In gen'rous Breasts, where Truth and Honour reign;
113
Purg'd from the grosser Elements below.
No close Reserves the social Heart controul,
But Freedom kindly opens out the Soul;
Nor sordid Int'rest checks the warm Desire
Nor taints the Thought, nor clouds the lambent Fire;
But in his Friend each gen'rous Man is blest,
And finds himself within Another's Breast;
For private Ends, true Friendship still denies,
When Self turns home, that Moment Friendship dies.
In ancient Times, when Life and Love were long,
(If we may Credit give to ancient Song,)
Then Words were faithful Copies of the Mind,
The Heart unveil'd, and Looks were undesign'd:
Each Friend, his Thoughts without Restraint exprest,
Nor kept one hid Reserve within his Breast:
Thus Friendship did it's utmost Vertex climb,
'Twas then (if e'er it was) a golden Time.
Alas! how far have these degenerate Days
Struck from that Path and trod in diff'rent Ways?
We look on other Times with other Eyes,
And each has learn'd his Heart a darling Vice.
No more our Bosoms feed the glorious Flame,
For all of Friendship's lost, except the Name,
And Friendship now, and Int'rest are the same.
(If we may Credit give to ancient Song,)
Then Words were faithful Copies of the Mind,
The Heart unveil'd, and Looks were undesign'd:
Each Friend, his Thoughts without Restraint exprest,
Nor kept one hid Reserve within his Breast:
Thus Friendship did it's utmost Vertex climb,
'Twas then (if e'er it was) a golden Time.
Alas! how far have these degenerate Days
Struck from that Path and trod in diff'rent Ways?
We look on other Times with other Eyes,
And each has learn'd his Heart a darling Vice.
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For all of Friendship's lost, except the Name,
And Friendship now, and Int'rest are the same.
Yet some remain, (alas the Number's few!)
Whose steady Feet, that ancient Path pursue;
Smit with the noble Love of Virtue, those
Dare yet be Friends, tho' half the World are Foes.
Such Souls are they which strict Alliance claim,
Meet Heart with Heart, and mingle Flame with Flame.
Together, these a boundless Flight can take,
Yet such a Flight as Truth itself may make.
For no romantick Strain here swells the Mind,
But all is real, artless, undesign'd:
The Tongue unskil'd in Compliments to flow,
Where Substance is possess'd, no need of show.
Whose steady Feet, that ancient Path pursue;
Smit with the noble Love of Virtue, those
Dare yet be Friends, tho' half the World are Foes.
Such Souls are they which strict Alliance claim,
Meet Heart with Heart, and mingle Flame with Flame.
Together, these a boundless Flight can take,
Yet such a Flight as Truth itself may make.
For no romantick Strain here swells the Mind,
But all is real, artless, undesign'd:
The Tongue unskil'd in Compliments to flow,
Where Substance is possess'd, no need of show.
Thrice happy Breasts are those, which thus maintain
True Friendship's Laws, and wear the lib'ral Chain!
The sordid Soul may grovel on below,
And feel no Joys, but those the Senses know:
The Great, in Pomp, may vainly swell with Pride,
True Friends are happier than the World beside:
When each his Breast with mutual Freedom tells,
Nor Fault nor Virtue from his Friend conceals;
Each Joy, or anxious Care, in ev'ry State,
Delights them both, or both divide the Weight,
For both together stand oppos'd to Fate.
True Friendship's Laws, and wear the lib'ral Chain!
The sordid Soul may grovel on below,
And feel no Joys, but those the Senses know:
The Great, in Pomp, may vainly swell with Pride,
True Friends are happier than the World beside:
When each his Breast with mutual Freedom tells,
Nor Fault nor Virtue from his Friend conceals;
115
Delights them both, or both divide the Weight,
For both together stand oppos'd to Fate.
Ev'n LOVE itself upon this Union stands,
Or other Terms, are vainly joyn'd the Hands:
A Moment's Bliss, the Fop may once procure,
But Sense and Virtue, only must endure:
In Friendship, who have best themselves approv'd,
May plead the largest Merit to be lov'd;
'Tis true, that gawdy Tinsel wins the Vain,
But the slight Pleasure soon concludes in Pain;
And yet too late the fatal Cheat appears,
We laugh one Day perhaps, then mourn for Years.
Or other Terms, are vainly joyn'd the Hands:
A Moment's Bliss, the Fop may once procure,
But Sense and Virtue, only must endure:
In Friendship, who have best themselves approv'd,
May plead the largest Merit to be lov'd;
'Tis true, that gawdy Tinsel wins the Vain,
But the slight Pleasure soon concludes in Pain;
And yet too late the fatal Cheat appears,
We laugh one Day perhaps, then mourn for Years.
Two gen'rous Souls, alone each other draw,
'Tis Friendship makes for LOVE, a lasting Law.
Happy the faithful Pair, who thus combine,
The sweets of LOVE to Friendship's strength to join,
How melt their Souls, how soft their Moments fly!
How long their Prospects of continued Joy!
'Tis Friendship makes for LOVE, a lasting Law.
Happy the faithful Pair, who thus combine,
The sweets of LOVE to Friendship's strength to join,
How melt their Souls, how soft their Moments fly!
How long their Prospects of continued Joy!
Let all the Beaus, the Witlings of the Town,
The savage 'Squire, the Booby and the Clown,
In one gross Heap, with Scorn, aside be thrown,
For Worth is happy in it's Bride, alone.
The savage 'Squire, the Booby and the Clown,
In one gross Heap, with Scorn, aside be thrown,
For Worth is happy in it's Bride, alone.
| A Collection of Poems | |