How often in my dreams have I beheld An enemy with a grinning, loathsome face; And then, before the dream is over, lo! A smiling friend has taken that enemy's place. So, when unkindness comes my way, I think Of an enemy first; but in the end It follows, two to one, the secret blow Is struck by one who calls himself my friend! Call me a Nature poet, nothing more, Who writes of simple things, not human evil; And hear my grief when I confess that friends Have tried their best to make a cunning devil! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...HYMNS OF THE MARSHES: MARSH SONG - AT SUNSET by SIDNEY LANIER TO MY EXCELLENT LUCASIA, ON OUR FRIENDSHIP. 17TH JULY 1651 by KATHERINE PHILIPS POLWART ON THE GREEN by ALLAN RAMSAY THE CASTLE OF INDOLENCE: CANTO 1 by JAMES THOMSON (1700-1748) BRUCE: JAMES OF DOUGLAS by JOHN BARBOUR THE LOVE SONNETS OF PROTEUS: 45. FAREWELL TO JULIET (7) by WILFRID SCAWEN BLUNT A COMMON CASE by GAMALIEL BRADFORD CRISTINA AND MONALDESCHI by ROBERT BROWNING A PARAPHRASE ON THE PRAYER, USED IN THE CHURCH LITURGY by JOHN BYROM |