Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, FRIENDSHIP IN PERFECTION, by ANDREW MICHAEL RAMSAY


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

FRIENDSHIP IN PERFECTION, by                    
First Line: Ye glowing seraphs, that now breathe above
Last Line: And turn all light, all love, as well as I.
Subject(s): Friendship; Love; Passion


Philander YE glowing seraphs, that now breathe above
In that pure element of unstained love,
Where clasping round each other ye're entwined,
As if ye were but one compounded mind;
Can ye stoop down to tell me what's the name
Of that pure love which in your orb does flame?
Is't ever here below, or all above?
Can mortal passions fuel such a love?
Strephon Can mortal passions fuel such a love!
What means my dear Philander thus to rove?
Rip up, untwine my soul, and then you'll see
What crystal streams of friendship glide through me;
Unravel this my soul, and then you'll know
That love can find another way to flow
Than in seraphic channels: here's the soul
That moves in friendship's orb without control.
Philander Words spoke with such a passion do display
A soul pegged over-high, that cannot stay
On such a bended stretch; the tide's too high:
'Twill burst the banks ere long and soon run dry.
Strephon My love's my soul, and that from Fate is free:
'Tis that unchanged and deathless part of me.
My passion stands secure; the pow'rs above
Must first annihilate my soul, and then my love.
Philander But ah! dear Strephon, granting this were true,
It won't be long ere death part me from you.
By what mark then shall we each other know,
When stripped to naked souls we leave this ball below?
Strephon I'll tell thee what I'll do, should Fate deny
To let me take thee with me when I die:
I will suspend my bliss, not wing away
Unto the seats of that Eternal Day;
But, lest that I should lose thee in the crowd,
Stop short of heaven, I'd wait thee in a cloud.
Philander Oh no! dear Strephon, that you cannot do:
Your guardian angels won't such stops allow.
The chorus that's above will long to see
A soul like yours t' accent their harmony.
Strephon Well, granting it were so, I'd steal away
When they dissolved in hallelujahs lay;
Yes, slip beyond the screen, leave their blessed company,
Forsake the seraphs to converse with thee.
Thus turtle-like to my dear mate I'll fly,
And down before thee in the sunbeams play.
Then, teaching thee all that I learned above
Anent the seraphs' friendship and their love,
I'd charm thy soul: it should take wing and fly
Beyond the dull confinements of the sky,
And turn all light, all love, as well as I.





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