Classic Poem

Ah! think no more that Life's delusive joys,
— Can charm my thoughts from Friendship's dearer claim;
Or wound a heart, that scarce a wish employs,
— For age to censure, or discretion blame.

Tir'd of the world, my weary mind recoils
— From splendid scenes, and transitory joys;
From fell Ambition's false and fruitless toils,
— From hope that flatters, and from bliss that cloys.

With thee, above the taunts of empty pride,
— The rigid frowns to youthful error given;
Content in solitude my griefs I'll hide,
— Thy voice my counsellor — thy smiles my Heaven.

With thee I'll hail the morn's returning ray,
— Or climb the dewy mountain bleak and cold;
On the smooth lake observe the sun-beams play,
— Or mark the infant flow'rs their buds unfold.

Pleas'd will I watch the glitt'ring queen of Night
— Spread her white mantle o'er the face of Heaven;
And from thy converse snatch the pure delight,
— By truth sublime to mental feeling given.

And as the varying seasons glide away,
— This moral lesson shall my bosom learn,
How Time steals on, while blissful hours decay
— Like fleeting shadows; — never to return.

And when I see thy warm unspotted mind,
— Torn with the wound of broken Friendship's dart;
When sickness chills thy breast with pangs unkind,
— Or ruthless sorrow preys upon thy heart;

The task be mine to soothe thee to repose,
— To check the sigh, and wipe the trickling tear,
Or with soft Sympathy to share thy woes;
— O, proudest rapture of the soul sincere!

And ye who flutter thro' the vacant hour,
— Where tasteless Apathy's empoison'd wand
Arrests the vagrant sense with numbing pow'r,
— While vanquish'd Reason bows at her command.

O say, what bliss can transient Life bestow,
— What balm so grateful to the social mind,
As Friendship's voice — where grateful precepts flow
— From the blest source of sentiment refin'd?

When Fate's stern hand shall close my weeping eye,
— And seal, at length, my wand'ring spirit's doom;
Oh! may kind Friendship catch my parting sigh,
— And cheer with Hope the terrors of the Tomb.

Ah! think no more that Life's delusive joys,
— Can charm my thoughts from Friendship's dearer claim;
Or wound a heart, that scarce a wish employs,
— For age to censure, or discretion blame.

Tir'd of the world, my weary mind recoils
— From splendid scenes, and transitory joys;
From fell Ambition's false and fruitless toils,
— From hope that flatters, and from bliss that cloys.

With thee, above the taunts of empty pride,
— The rigid frowns to youthful error given;
Content in solitude my griefs I'll hide,
— Thy voice my counsellor — thy smiles my Heaven.

With thee I'll hail the morn's returning ray,
— Or climb the dewy mountain bleak and cold;
On the smooth lake observe the sun-beams play,
— Or mark the infant flow'rs their buds unfold.

Pleas'd will I watch the glitt'ring queen of Night
— Spread her white mantle o'er the face of Heaven;
And from thy converse snatch the pure delight,
— By truth sublime to mental feeling given.

And as the varying seasons glide away,
— This moral lesson shall my bosom learn,
How Time steals on, while blissful hours decay
— Like fleeting shadows; — never to return.

And when I see thy warm unspotted mind,
— Torn with the wound of broken Friendship's dart;
When sickness chills thy breast with pangs unkind,
— Or ruthless sorrow preys upon thy heart;

The task be mine to soothe thee to repose,
— To check the sigh, and wipe the trickling tear,
Or with soft Sympathy to share thy woes;
— O, proudest rapture of the soul sincere!

And ye who flutter thro' the vacant hour,
— Where tasteless Apathy's empoison'd wand
Arrests the vagrant sense with numbing pow'r,
— While vanquish'd Reason bows at her command.

O say, what bliss can transient Life bestow,
— What balm so grateful to the social mind,
As Friendship's voice — where grateful precepts flow
— From the blest source of sentiment refin'd?

When Fate's stern hand shall close my weeping eye,
— And seal, at length, my wand'ring spirit's doom;
Oh! may kind Friendship catch my parting sigh,
— And cheer with Hope the terrors of the Tomb.