Friendship

Friendship

There is a plant that never dies -

'Tis not of earth, but heaven;

'Tis ting'd with pure celestial dyes,
Its odors wafted to the skies.

By breeze or tempest driv'n;

'Tis not a tender, fragile thing -

It strengthens with the storm;

And 'midst the dreary waste it stands,

A soul-inspiring form -

        Thine, Friendship, thine!

There is a flame that's ever bright,

Enkindled on a holy shrine;

It burns a sacred, steady light,
Amid the gloom of Time's dark night,

It seems a light divine;

'Tis not a transient, sickly flame,

A meteor of the air;

It glows through Time and past the grave,

It lives forever there -

        Thine, friendship, thine!

Unattributed

2:36, p. 144

1838.10.27