Inspirational Poetry On Friendship & love:Oh! Think Not My Spirits Are Always As Light by Thomas Moore*I Thank You by Henry Timrod*Upon The Sand by Ella Wheeler Wilcox *If I Knew You by Nixon Waterman

Music:
André Rieu-Romance For Clara

Oh! Think Not My Spirits Are Always As Light
Thomas Moore

Oh! think not my spirits are always as light,
And as free from a pang as they seem to you now,
Nor expect that the heart-beaming smile of to-night
Will return with to-morrow to brighten my brow.

No: -- life is a waste of wearisome hours,
Which seldom the rose of enjoyment adorns;
And the heart that is soonest awake to the flowers,
Is always the first to be touch'd by the thorns.

But send round the bowl,and be happy awhile --
May we never meet worse,in our pilgrimage here,
Than the tear that enjoyment may gild with a smile,
And the smile that compassion can turn to a tear.

The thread of our life would be dark, Heaven knows
If it were not with friendship and love intertwined;
And I care not how soon I may sink to repose,
When these blessing shall cease to be dear to my mind.

But they who have loved the fondest,the purest,
Too often have wept o'er the dream they believed;
And the heart that has slumber'd in friendship securest
Is happy indeed if 'twas never deceived.

But send round the bowl; while a relic of truth
Is in man or in woman, this prayer shall be mine,--
That the sunshine of love may illumine our youth,
And the moonlight of friendship console our decline.

Sonnet:I Thank You
HENRY TIMROD

I thank you,kind and best beloved friend,
With the same thanks one murmurs to a sister,
When,for some gentle favor,he hath kissed her,
Less for the gifts than for the love you send,
Less for the flowers,than what the flowers convey;
If I,indeed,divine their meaning truly,
And not unto myself ascribe,unduly,
Things which you neither meant nor wished to say,

Oh! tell me,is the hope then all misplaced?
And am I flattered by my own affection?
But in your beauteous gift,methought I traced
Something above a short-lived predilection,
And which,for that I know no dearer name,
I designate as love, without love’s flame.

Upon the Sand
Ella Wheeler Wilcox

All love that has not friendship for its base
Is like a mansion built upon the sand.
Though brave its walls as any in the land,
And its tall turrets lift their heads in grace;
Though skilful and accomplished artists trace
Most beautiful designs on every hand,
And gleaming statues in dim niches stand,
And fountains play in some flow'r-hidden place:

Yet, when from the frowning east a sudden gust
Of adverse fate is blown, or sad rains fall,
Day in,day out,against its yielding wall,
Lo! the fair structure crumbles to the dust.
Love,to endure life's sorrow and earth's woe,
Needs friendship's solid mason-work below.

If I Knew You
Nixon Waterman

If I knew you and you knew me,
If both of us could clearly see,
And with an inner sight divine,
The meaning of your heart and mine,

I'm sure that we would differ less,
And clasp our hands in friendliness;
Our thoughts would pleasantly agree,
If I knew you and you knew me.