Classic Poem

Believe me, Love, dear inmate of my breast,
Friendship shall never break my faith with thee;
No, though too oft thou robb'st my soul of rest,
My solemn vows shall ever sacred be.

My heart, that proudly boasts the purest flame
That ever blazed before thy sacred shrine,
Can ne'er, seduced by friendship's specious name,
Confess her calmer joys are more divine.

By thee alone my soul has long been taught
The pure disinterested wish to form, —
To harmonize each wild discordant thought,
And guard her truth unshaken in the storm.

Thy power supreme that soul shall still adore,
Till the warm pulse of life can throb no more.