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The Idyllia, Epigrams, and Fragments, of Theocritus, Bion, and Moschus

with the Elegies of Tyrtaeus, Translated from the Greek into English Verse. To which are Added, Dissertations and Notes. By the Rev. Richard Polwhele
  

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IDYLLIUM the TWENTY-NINTH. The CAPRICIOUS FRIEND.
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212

IDYLLIUM the TWENTY-NINTH. The CAPRICIOUS FRIEND.

SinceTruth's in Wine,’ my dearest Youth,
We mellow Souls should speak the Truth:
Take then, for once, without Disguise,
What in my inmost Bosom lies.
Thy Friendship is not sound and whole;
Thou dost not love me from the Soul.
The Half of Life I call my own
Lives but thro' thee—the rest is gone!
'Tis thine to make alive or kill;
To bless with Good, or curse with Ill:
For, instant, at thy pow'rful Nod,
I sink, a Shade! or rise, a God!
How can thy Heart approve it, tell,
To torture one who loves so well?
But, if thy Senior pleas'd to hear,
Thou lend Advice a listening Ear,
Thy ready Plaudits will commend
When Blessings come, a faithful Friend.

213

To gain Security and Rest,
Build on one Tree a single Nest;
And such a Bough be sure to take
As mocks the Approaches of the Snake.
Yet, perch'd on yonder Branch, to-day,
The next, upon another Spray,
With roving Pinion thou art gone!
Allur'd by all, but fix'd to none:
If any one, who sees thee vain,
Praise thy Deserts, in canting Strain,
Good Heaven! he's instantly enroll'd
Among thy Friends, however old.
But love, if thou wilt truly live,
A Soul, whose kindred Feelings give
A Zest to Life: Thus all shall prize
Thy Character, and deem thee wise.
And, sure, such Friendship's worth possessing,
That, while 'tis blest, is ever blessing;
That bade my stubborn Bosom feel,
And soften'd thus a Heart of Steel!