Classic Poem

Averse to silence, thus the pause I break,
In Friendship's cause, and for Honoria's sake.
Ah! why prolong thy stay? we try in vain,
The threaten'd ill with patience to sustain.
Thy tender Parent can't the boon deny,
Tho' she explores thee with expecting eye;
Foregoes her pleasure, to secure to thee,
Convivial joys from pain and discord free.
What tho' the rigid North will soon appear
Clad in the horrors of the closing year,
By cheerfulness anticipate the Spring,
Make Boreas smile, and Æolus to sing!
Why are we bound by harsh and rigid rules,
Impos'd by Tyrants, and obey'd by Fools?
Sorrow attends the sable nodding Plumes,
Whilst a gay air the brilliant gem assumes,
Tho' neither have the pow'r to touch the heart,
Which smiles with joy, or groans with poignant smart;
Superior to external influence reigns.
Defies its pow'r, and breaks its galling chains.
Simplex munditiis is the path I tread,
Impell'd by Virtue, and by prudence led;
Much less asham'd to err in head than heart,
Proof against envy, and her treach'rous art.
By Hope elated, or by grief depress'd,
Still Friendship reigns in my devoted breast.
Long may'st thou feel it, long the same impart,
The native growth of thy ingenuous heart.
Friendship like Charity, her grace extends,
And is most blest in blessing of her friends.
This gracious gift then deign to yield to me,
To prove at once thy Love and Constancy.
By intercourse of letters kind, reveal
Thy ev'ry thought; nor yet with care conceal
What will afford thy friend a joy extreme;
Nor be laconic on the pleasing theme.
Omit no circumstance of time or place,
From thy recital sure to gain a grace.
Blest with the pow'r to speak and write with ease,
Possessing ev'ry gift to charm and please,
No longer now thy talent shalt thou hide,
The joy of Friendship and its greatest pride;
Its life, its soul, its great essential part,
Whose Empire's seated in a faithful heart.