FRIENDSHIP
O Friendship! On life’s crown the pearl
Amidst its jewels rare,
A star for peasant or for earl
The other gems whate’er—
Be diamond on the kingly brow
Or garnet dull on toil,
The hearted radiance art thou,
Of noblest might or moil.
But ah, to only value thee
As treasure of desire
For peerlessness of purity
We gain to but admire;
And not to feel thy inner worth
As stuff of primal deeps,
Some miracle of troubled birth
Where lowly nature creeps!
Is this, O Friendship, worthy of
The praises of the Muse,
Of life so lightly prone to love
But fire to refuse?
If only in our hand we hold
Another’s sacrifice
And give it back no gift of gold,
’Tis not the Pearl of Price.