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Poems by Bernard Barton

Fourth Edition, with Additions
 

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SONNET TO A FRIEND.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 


189

SONNET TO A FRIEND.

In thy profession thou hast many peers,
Whose skill may equal thine: but few I know
Whom converse, manners, kindness, so endears
To patients, in that most impatient woe
Disease gives birth to. I would rather be
(As who would not?) a stranger to you all:
But if I were by sad necessity
Compell'd to seek for aid, thine would I call.
For I have found thee, in some tedious hours
Of pain and languor, capable of being
Expert in more than med'cine's healing powers;
Not nauseous drugs, alone, with pomp decreeing,
But nearly able by thy social skill
To make me half forget that I was ill.