Friendship Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: ABAB CDCD EFEF GHGH EIEI JKJK LMLM NONO DBDB PQPQ| 'Tis not in the bitterest woes of life | A |
| That the love of friends as a rule grows cold | B |
| Still less does it melt in the heat of strife | A |
| Or die from the canker of borrowed gold | B |
| - | |
| For pity comes when they see us grieved | C |
| Or forced to lie on a couch of pain | D |
| And a hasty word is soon retrieved | C |
| And the loan of money may leave no stain | D |
| - | |
| 'Tis oftenest lost through the deadly blight | E |
| Of Society's pestilential air | F |
| Which blackens the robe of purest white | E |
| And fouls what once was sweet and fair | F |
| - | |
| An envious woman's whispered word | G |
| A slander born of a cruel smile | H |
| The repetition of something heard | G |
| The imputation of something vile | H |
| - | |
| Or possibly even a fancied slight | E |
| For a feast declined or a call delayed | I |
| Or jealousy caused by petty spite | E |
| Or the wish for a higher social grade | I |
| - | |
| 'Tis one or all of these combined | J |
| That saps the love of our dearest friends | K |
| And slowly poisons heart and mind | J |
| Till the joy of generous friendship ends | K |
| - | |
| Last night they were in a cordial mood | L |
| To day they suddenly seem estranged | M |
| Shall we then grieve and sadly brood | L |
| O'er the unknown cause that has made them changed | M |
| - | |
| Ask once that they make the matter clear | N |
| But ask no more if the lesson fail | O |
| Let changelings go however dear | N |
| And shed no tears for a love so frail | O |
| - | |
| Be not the slave of a friend's migraine | D |
| Nor let him play now hot now cold | B |
| The master of thyself remain | D |
| And the key of thine inmost heart withhold | B |
| - | |
| For they who weep and sue and plead | P |
| Are used and dropped like a worn out glove | Q |
| And the friends with moods are the friends who need | P |
| To learn that they are not worth our love | Q |
John L. Stoddard
(1)
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