Friendship, No. II.

Friendship, No. II. [No. 76]

Give the Friendship of the truly Good—
The Approbation of the Wise of Earth;
And then, however humble be my Birth
And Social Situation; and whether my Blood
Had coursed in veins of Peasants or of Peers; 5
My home may be a Cottage, and my Purse
And Raiment may be Poor; yet I will nurse
Bright Thoughts and Noble Feelings all my Years;
And, so that plainest Food and Health be mine,
For Rank and Wealth my Soul shall never fret: 10
Yea, I full fain would owe no other Debt
Than that of Gratitude to the Divine
Dispenser of all Good, and those choice Friends
With whom my Soul in Harmony now blends.

by George Markham Tweddell 1st published c 1887