TO A FRIEND IN HEAVEN.
I
The warmest heart is soonest chill'd;
Contemn'd, it droops depress'd;
And if my own, to feign unskill'd,
Seem'd cold, because unbless'd;
Oh, by thy brief and troubled day!
And by thy locks, too early grey!
Best friend, and lov'd the best!
Forgive a bleeding heart in me,
False to itself, but not to thee!
II
When calumny hath shot his dart,
And envy done her worst;
When parted hearts that should not part,
The worm of woe have nurst;
And when, on earth's frail hope and trust,
Death deep hath stamp'd his seal in dust;
Then truth through doubt shall burst,
To clear the mind's long-clouded view;
And now thou know'st thy friend was true!
III
Oh, better thus be lowly laid,
Than live, with sorrow worn,
To say, while life's best visions fade,
“The blissful are unborn!”
Outliving all respect to view
The scorn that stabs, and scorn it, too,—
Or pity worse than scorn!
To see the seeming friend a foe,
And all the happy fly from woe!
IV
Hard lesson, cheap at any price,
And sternly taught to me,
That human nature's cowardice
Is woe's worst enemy!
Pride spurns the fallen; strength aids the strong;
And he who does not, suffers wrong,
And bails iniquity;
But let the weak seem arm'd and still,
And they will fawn, who else would kill.
