The Faithful Friend Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: AABCDD EEFFGG HHII JJKKLLMNNOOPPQQRR SSTTFFUUVV WWGX WWYYZZWWA2B2WW C2C2 D2D2E2E2YYF2F2WWWWG2 G2WW H2H2I2I2YYJ2J2K2K2L2 L2M2M2 WWGX| O FRIEND whose heart the grave doth shroud from human joy or woe | A |
| Know'st thou who wanders by thy tomb with footsteps sad and slow | A |
| Know'st thou whose brow is dark with grief whose eyes are dim with tears | B |
| Whose restless soul is sinking with its agony of fears | C |
| Whose hope hath fail'd whose star hath sunk whose firmest trust deceived | D |
| Since leaning on thy faithful breast he loved and believed | D |
| - | |
| 'Tis I Return and comfort me for old remembrance' sake | E |
| From the long silence of the tomb the cheerless tomb awake | E |
| I listen all is still as death no welcome step is nigh | F |
| I call thee but thou answerest not the grave hath no reply | F |
| But mournfully the strange bright sun shines on thy funeral stone | G |
| And sadly in the cypress bough the wild wind makes her moan | G |
| - | |
| When we were young and cheerfully the promised future glow'd | H |
| I little thought to stand alone by this thy last abode | H |
| I little thought in early days O generous and kind | I |
| That THOU the first shouldst quit the earth and leave me wreck'd behind | I |
| - | |
| Thine was the pure unjealous love I know they told us then | J |
| That Genius's gifts divided me from dull and common men | J |
| That thou wert slow to science that the chrat and letter'd page | K |
| Had in them no deep spell whereby thy spirit to engage | K |
| But rather thou wouldst sail thy boat or sound thy bugle horn | L |
| Or track the sportsman's triumph thro' the fields of waving corn | L |
| Than o'er the pond'rous histories of other ages bend | M |
| And it was true Our minds were cast as pleased the will of Heaven | N |
| And different powers unto me and unto thee were given | N |
| No trick of talent deck'd thy speech and glorified thy youth | O |
| Its simple spell of eloquence lay in its earnest truth | O |
| Nor was the gladsome kindliness which brighten'd on thy brow | P |
| The beauty which in fiction wins Love's fond romantic vow | P |
| But gazing on thine honest face intelligently bold | Q |
| Oft have I doubted of the gifts which men so precious hold | Q |
| Wit learning wealth seem'd overprized since thou dear friend couldst be | R |
| So closely knit unto my heart by thy simplicity | R |
| - | |
| The worldly wise may sneer at this and scorn thee if they will | S |
| THY judgment was not sharpen'd by the cunning of their skill | S |
| No deep and calculating thoughts lay buried in thy breast | T |
| To chill and vex thy honest heart and startle it from rest | T |
| No dream of cold philosophy to make thee doubt and sigh | F |
| And fawn and flatter half thy kind and pass the others by | F |
| And there thou liest forgotten thou faithful friend and true | U |
| Thy resting place beneath the cold damp shadow of the yew | U |
| And quietly within the tomb's dark precincts wert thou laid | V |
| As a faded leaf unnoticed drops within the forest's shade | V |
| - | |
| How should the world have tears for thee the world hath nothing lost | W |
| No parent's high ambitious hope THY early death hath crost | W |
| No sculptured falsehood gives to fame thy monumental stone | G |
| From the glory of our Senate house nor orator is gone | X |
| - | |
| Science hath lost no well known name no soldier's heart shall bound | W |
| Linking old England's victories with that inglorious sound | W |
| No jealous and tomb trampling foe shall find it worth his while | Y |
| With a false history of thy acts thy country to beguile | Y |
| No mercenary hand in haste prepare the letter'd tome | Z |
| And publicly reveal the fond small weaknesses of Home | Z |
| Not some vainglorious friend who yet hath lov'd thee to the last | W |
| Permit all men to buy and sell his records of the past | W |
| Nor give thy living letters up nor print thy dying words | A2 |
| Nor sweep with sacrilegious hand Affection's holy chords | B2 |
| Nor with a frozen after thought dissect thy generous heart | W |
| And count each pulse that bid thy blood gush with a quicker start | W |
| - | |
| No Blest OBSCURITY was thine In sacred darkness dwells | C2 |
| The mem'ry of THY last fond looks and faltering farewells | C2 |
| - | |
| And none shall drag thy actions forth for Slander or for Praise | D2 |
| To that broad light which never glowed round thy unnoticed days | D2 |
| At times a recollected jest or snatch of merry song | E2 |
| Which was so thine that still to thee its ringing notes belong | E2 |
| To boon companions back again thy image may recal | Y |
| But lightly sits thy memory oh Faithful Friend on all | Y |
| The old house still hath echoes glad tho' silent be thy voice | F2 |
| Thy empty place at bed and board forbids not to rejoice | F2 |
| Still with its white and gleaming sail by strangers launch'd to float | W |
| Across the blue lake in the sun glides on thy little boat | W |
| Thy steed another rider backs thy dogs new masters find | W |
| But I I mourn thy absence still thou generous and kind | W |
| Since I have lost thy pleasant smile and voice of ringing mirth | G2 |
| A silence and a darkness seems come down upon the earth | G2 |
| A weight sits heavy on my heart and clogs my weary feet | W |
| For wander where I will thy glance I never more shall meet | W |
| - | |
| I cannot knit my soul again my thoughts are wide astray | H2 |
| When others by my side would wile an hour or two away | H2 |
| My door flings wide to welcome in some less familiar face | I2 |
| And my heart struggles hard to fill thy ever vacant place | I2 |
| But all is vain Dim thoughts of THEE across my bosom steal | Y |
| And still the louder mirth around the lonelier I feel | Y |
| Yea even that should make me proud the laurel wreath of Fame | J2 |
| But brings me back our early days and the echo of thy name | J2 |
| But brings me back thy cheerful smile when yet a careless boy | K2 |
| Mine was the toil but thou didst share the glory and the joy | K2 |
| And bright across the awarded prize thy kind eye answer'd mine | L2 |
| As full of triumph and delight as though that prize were thine | L2 |
| Yes all is vain I want not Wit I want not Learning's power | M2 |
| I want THY hand I want THY smile to pass the cheerless hour | M2 |
| - | |
| I want thy earnest honest voice whose comfort never fail'd | W |
| I want thy kindly glance whose light no coldness ever veil'd | W |
| I feel at every turn of life thy loss hath left me lone | G |
| And I mourn the friend of boyhood's years the friend for ever gone | X |
Caroline Elizabeth Sarah Norton
(1)
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