LINES TO HANNAH AND PHOEBE by BERNARD BARTON

I HAVE known you so long, and have lov'd you so well,
It is fit that one page of our friendship should tell;
For experience has made it as firm and as fond,
On my part, at least, as a brotherly bond;
And on yours, I should hope, some such feelings are known
Towards me, as affectionate sisters might own.
Ought it not to be thus? Oh! most surely it should;
For though pain, and through pleasure; through evil and good;
Or what the world call such, I think I may say
We have mutually strove to make smoother the way;
In moments of sunshine, that sunshine to share;
And in days overclouded, the darkness to bear.
May we still do the same; and increasingly feel
That joy, genuine friendship alone can reveal:
And gratefully own, while it doubles our bliss,
Its influence extends even further than this;
For, in seasons of grief, it is equally true,
By dividing our sorrows it lessens them too.

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