Friendship, No. IV

Friendship, No. IV. [No. 78]

There are some Icy Hearts in which the germs
Of Friendship ne’er can grow. You know them long,
Yet never would prefer your lot among
Such Undeveloped Manhood; for the Forms
Of Men, but not the Souls, are theirs: no terms 5
Which they could offer, be they Rich or Poor,
Could bind our Hearts in Friendship for an Hour,
Much less for Life. Little above the Worms,
To which we all are journeying, are they.
The friends we lose by Death, we can’t recall, 10
E’en would we do so, to this earthly ball;
But yet around our path the golden ray
Of other Friendships may illumine the gloom,
And cheer us in our passage to the Tomb.

by George Markham Tweddell 1st published c 1887