What is a Friend? I'll tell you. It is a person with whom you dare to be yourself. Your soul can go naked with him. He seems to ask you to put on nothing, only to be what you really are. When you are with him, you do not have to be on your guard. You can say what you think, so long as it is genuinely you. He understands those contradictions in your nature that cause others to misjudge you. With him you breathe freely -- you can avow your little vanities and envies and absurdities and in opening them up to him they are dissolved on the white ocean of his loyalty. He understands. -- You can weep with him, laugh with him, pray with him -- through and underneath it all he sees, knows and loves you. A Friend, I repeat, is one with whom YOU DARE TO BE YOURSELF. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...GREEN MOUNTAIN IDYL by HAYDEN CARRUTH PARAGRAPHS: 15 by HAYDEN CARRUTH THE STORY OF THE END OF THE STORY by JAMES GALVIN SURFACES AND MASKS; 30 by CLARENCE MAJOR DOMESDAY BOOK: DOMESDAY BOOK by EDGAR LEE MASTERS SPOON RIVER ANTHOLOGY: HENRY PHIPPS by EDGAR LEE MASTERS |