Friendship, No. III.

Friendship, No. III. [No. 77]

The wisest and the best of men have been
Too often Misunderstood. He who would gain
The gratitude of Men, must bear the pain
Of being most Unpopular, I ween,
With Owls of his own day. But he who makes 5
No Friends, however few, who love him well,
Has surely never learnt how he could quell
That Selfish Disposition which e’er takes
All Loveliness from Man. Deserve a Friend,
And when thou need’st him most, thou then wilt find 10
Some whom thou least expected act most kind
And trusty to thee. Learn thyself to bend
Lowly to every Suffering Thing on Earth,
And thou of Friends will never know a dearth.

by George Markham Tweddell 1st published c 1887