Poems (Smith)/Friendship's Offering

by Martha A. Smith

FRIENDSHIP'S OFFERING.

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I love thee, my friend, with the truest affection;
Thy sympathy falls like a balm o'er the heart;
Thy friendship is lovely; thy kind disposition
Will brighten my life till from earth I depart.

Oh, could I have met thee in happier moments,
When this earth was so glorious,—too beauteous to last;
And this life was an Eden of loveliest promise;
Now gone from me forever! Farewell to the past!

And left me in sadness and darkness to linger,
Till call'd to my Maker not far o'er the way;
Trusting ere my life's ended a light will yet glimmer,
And brighten forever into beautiful day.

I have esteemed thee so highly since the hour I first met thee,
The light of affection ever shone from thine eve;
With trusting devotion may it ever continue,
Till called from this earth, and we say the good-bye.

Adieu, my sweet friend! As our friendship is blended,
May it brighten and beautify our lives here below!
When our lives shall be ended He on whom we depended—
Our Saviour will welcome us when to Heaven we go.