Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, SONNET: 12. THE SPEEDY FRIEND, by ROBERT SOUTHEY


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

SONNET: 12. THE SPEEDY FRIEND, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: Beware a speedy friend, the arabian said
Last Line: Is swept, still lingering on the boughs the last.
Subject(s): Advice; Arabs; Friendship; Sonnet (as Literary Form)


BEWARE a speedy friend, the Arabian said,
And wisely was it he advised distrust.
The flower that blossoms earliest fades the first.
Look at yon oak that lifts its stately head
And dallies with the autumnal storm, whose rage
Tempests the ocean waves; slowly it rose,
Slowly its strength increased, through many an age,
And timidly did its light leaves unclose,
As doubtful of the spring, their palest green.
They to the summer cautiously expand,
And by the warmer sun and season bland
Matured, their foliage in the grove is seen,
When the bare forest by the wintry blast
Is swept, still lingering on the boughs the last.





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