FRIENDSHIP’s the greater bliss we mortals share,
It heightens pleasure, softens ev’ry care;
Expands the heart, each thought severe disarms,
And in the mind unfolds ten thousand charms.
How high in happiness the prospect stands,
Whene’er in Friendship’s strong, yet tender bands,
Two spirits kind in gentle union meet,
The bliss how great, how exquisitely sweet!
Self-love and envy to their souls unknown,
Each has an int’rest dearer than their own;
Their ev’ry joy a brighter aspect wears,
Their ev’ry grief, when told, straight disappears.
Or when, amid the varying turns of fate,
The mind bears some important secret’s weight;
On which the life, or life’s chief hopes depend,
It rests securely with the faithful friend.
Mutual esteem and love their actions guide,
And truth and justice o’er their hearts preside.
The gen’rous breast which ardent Friendship fires,
Each lib’ral, virtuous sentiment inspires.
Friendship the mind excites to noble deeds,
And to the path of spotless glory leads;
And when its object’s worthy of regard,
It will, like Virtue, prove its own reward.
(Elizabeth Bentley)
More Poetry from Elizabeth Bentley:
Elizabeth Bentley Poems based on Topics: Mind, Friendship, Life, Happiness, Pleasure, Vice & Virtue, Grief, Fate & Destiny- On The Abolition Of The African Slave-Trade (Elizabeth Bentley Poems)
- The Prodigal Son (Elizabeth Bentley Poems)
- Ode To Melancholy (Elizabeth Bentley Poems)
- Ode To Summer (Elizabeth Bentley Poems)
- The Virtues. An Ode. (Elizabeth Bentley Poems)
- On The Return Of Peace And Plenty (Elizabeth Bentley Poems)
Readers Who Like This Poem Also Like:
Based on Topics: Life Poems, Mind Poems, Friendship Poems, Happiness Poems, Fate & Destiny Poems, Grief Poems, Pleasure Poems, Vice & Virtue PoemsBased on Keywords: exquisitely, excites, lib, disarms, self-love, preside, heightens
- Aechdeacon Barbour (John Greenleaf Whittier Poems)
- The Old Sheperd's Recollections (Matilda Betham Poems)
- The Art Of Preserving Health. Book IV (John Armstrong Poems)
- Poem For The Two Hundred And Fiftieth Anniversary Of The Founding Of Harvard College (Oliver Wendell Holmes Poems)
- Shakuntala Act V (Kalidasa Poems)