Friendship Poem Rhyme Scheme

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William Cowper

Friendship Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis

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What virtue or what mental grace	A
But men unqualified and base	A
Will boast it their possession	B
Profusion apes the noble part	C
Of liberality of heart	C
And dulness of discretion	B
	-
If every polish d gem we find	D
Illuminating heart or mind	D
Provoke to imitation	B
No wonder friendship does the same	E
That jewel of the purest flame	E
Or rather constellation	B
	-
No knave but boldly will pretend	F
The requisites that form a friend	F
A real and a sound one	B
Nor any fool he would deceive	G
But prove as ready to believe	G
And dream that he had found one	B
	-
Candid and generous and just	H
Boys care but little whom they trust	H
An error soon corrected	I
For who but learns in riper years	J
That man when smoothest he appears	J
Is most to be suspected	I
	-
But here again a danger lies	K
Lest having misapplied our eyes	K
And taken trash for treasure	L
We should unwarily conclude	M
Friendship a false ideal good	N
A mere Utopian pleasure	L
	-
An acquisition rather rare	O
Is yet no subject of despair	O
Nor is it wise complaining	P
If either on forbidden ground	Q
Or where it was not to be found	Q
We sought without attaining	P
	-
No friendship will abide the test	R
That stands on sordid interest	H
Or mean self love erected	I
Nor such as may awhile subsist	S
Between the sot and sensualist	S
For vicious ends connected	S
	-
Who seek a friend should come dispos d	S
To exhibit in full bloom disclos d	S
The graces and the beauties	T
That form the character he seeks	U
For tis a union that bespeaks	U
Reciprocated duties	T
	-
Mutual attention is implied	S
And equal truth on either side	S
And constantly supported	S
Tis senseless arrogance to accuse	V
Another of sinister views	V
Our own as much distorted	S
	-
But will sincerity suffice	W
It is indeed above all price	W
And must be made the basis	X
But every virtue of the soul	Y
Must constitute the charming whole	Y
All shining in their places	Z
	-
A fretful temper will divide	S
The closest knot that may be tied	S
By ceaseless sharp corrosion	B
A temper passionate and fierce	A2
May suddenly your joys disperse	B2
At one immense explosion	B
	-
In vain the talkative unite	S
In hopes of permanent delight	S
The secret just committed	S
Forgetting its important weight	S
They drop through mere desire to prate	S
And by themselves outwitted	S
	-
How bright soe er the prospect seems	C2
All thoughts of friendship are but dreams	C2
If envy chance to creep in	D2
An envious man if you succeed	S
May prove a dangerous foe indeed	S
But not a friend worth keeping	P
	-
As envy pines at good possess d	S
So jealously looks forth distress d	S
On good that seems approaching	P
And if success his steps attend	S
Discerns a rival in a friend	S
And hates him for encroaching	P
	-
Hence authors of illustrious name	E
Unless belied by common fame	E
Are sadly prone to quarrel	E2
To deem the wit a friend displays	F2
A tax upon their own just praise	F2
And pluck each other s laurel	E2
	-
A man renown d for repartee	S
Will seldom scruple to make free	S
With friendship s finest feeling	P
Will thrust a dagger at your breast	S
And say he wounded you in jest	S
By way of balm for healing	P
	-
Whoever keeps an open ear	G2
For tattlers will be sure to hear	G2
The trumpet of contention	B
Aspersion is the babbler s trade	S
To listen is to lend him aid	S
And rush into dissension	B
	-
A friendship that in frequent fits	H2
Of controversial rage emits	H2
The sparks of disputation	B
Like hand in hand insurance plates	I2
Most unavoidably creates	I2
The thought of conflagration	B
	-
Some fickle creatures boast a soul	Y
True as a needle to the pole	Y
Their humour yet so various	X
They manifest their whole life through	J2
The needle s deviations too	J2
Their love is so precarious	X
	-
The great and small but rarely meet	S
On terms of amity complete	S
Plebeians must surrender	L
And yield so much to noble folk	K2
It is combining fire with smoke	K2
Obscurity with splendour	L
	-
Some are so placid and serene	L2
As Irish bogs are always green	L2
They sleep secure from waking	P
And are indeed a bog that bears	M2
Your unparticipated cares	M2
Unmoved and without quaking	P
	-
Courtier and patriot cannot mix	N2
Their heterogeneous politics	N2
Without an effervescence	N2
Like that of salts with lemon juice	N2
Which does not yet like that produce	N2
A friendly coalescence	N2
	-
Religion should extinguish strife	O2
And make a calm of human life	O2
But friends that chance to differ	L
On points which God has left at large	P2
How freely will they meet and charge	P2
No combatants are stiffer	L
	-
To prove at last my main intent	S
Needs no expense of argument	S
No cutting and contriving	P
Seeking a real friend we seem	Q2
To adopt the chemist s golden dream	Q2
With still less hope of thriving	P
	-
Sometimes the fault is all our own	R2
Some blemish in due time made known	R2
By trespass or omission	B
Sometimes occasion brings to light	S
Our friend s defect long hid from sight	S
And even from suspicion	B
	-
Then judge yourself and prove your man	S2
As circumspectly as you can	S2
And having made election	B
Beware no negligence of yours	N2
Such as a friend but ill endures	N2
Enfeeble his affection	B
	-
That secrets are a sacred trust	S
That friends should be sincere and just	S
That constancy befits them	T2
Are observations on the case	N2
That savour much of commonplace	N2
And all the world admits them	T2
	-
But tis not timber lead and stone	R2
An architect requires alone	R2
To finish a fine building	P
The palace were but half complete	S
If he could possibly forget	S
The carving and the gilding	P
	-
The man that hails you Tom or Jack	P
And proves by thumps upon your back	P
How he esteems your merit	S
Is such a friend that one had need	S
Be very much his friend indeed	S
To pardon or to bear it	S
	-
As similarity of mind	S
Or something not to be defined	S
First fixes our attention	B
So manners decent and polite	S
The same we practised at first sight	S
Must save it from declension	B
	-
Some act upon this prudent plan	B
Say little and hear all you can	B
Safe policy but hateful	E2
So barren sands imbibe the shower	L
But render neither fruit nor flower	L
Unpleasant and ungrateful	E2
	-
The man I trust if shy to me	S
Shall find me as reserved as he	S
No subterfuge or pleading	P
Shall win my confidence again	B
I will by no means entertain	B
A spy on my proceeding	P
	-
These samples for alas at last	S
These are but samples and a taste	S
Of evils yet unmention d	S
May prove the task a task indeed	S
In which tis much if we succeed	S
However well intention d	S
	-
Pursue the search and you will find	S
Good sense and knowledge of mankind	S
To be at least expedient	S
And after summing all the rest	S
Religion ruling in the breast	S
A principal ingredient	S
	-
The noblest Friendship ever shown	B
The Saviour s history makes known	B
Though some have turn d and turn d it	S
And whether being crazed or blind	S
Or seeking with a biass d mind	S
Have not it seems discern d it	S
	-
O Friendship if my soul forego	P
Thy dear delights while here below	P
To mortify and grieve me	S
May I myself at last appear	L
Unworthy base and insincere	L
Or may my friend deceive me	S