Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, FRIENDSHIP, by DOROTHY GRAFLY


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

FRIENDSHIP, by                    
First Line: O friend, we sit together, and the room
Last Line: I bid thee open thy soul and give it liberty.
Subject(s): Friendship; Wellesley College


O FRIEND, we sit together, and the room
Seems wonder-filled with love and trembling youth,
And in its beauty we have pledged our hearts
To unity.
We pledge our loyalty, our honor and our truth
In the old, old words of an eternity.

And yet I know that we must part, and then
My way and thine, wide-circling wander far.
I still may pledge my honor to a star --
But thou art lost, and I to thee
In the fitful loneliness of memory
Return again.

O friend, I have no other claim on thee
Save that thou and I together spent
Some happy hours.
We cannot bind
The wilful waywardness of mortal mind,
But only dream in golden-crowned content
Of the springtime flowers.

O friend, when thou and I are far apart
In the rough-hewn bypaths of the is-to-be,
I bid thee when our friendship chills thy heart
And lies a cold dead body when thou wouldst be free, --
Or, like a bird, in trembling restlessness
Would try its wings in yet one final test, --
I bid thee open thy soul and give it liberty.





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