Litchfield enquirer. [volume] (Litchfield, Conn.) 1829-current, 1839-05-16
[BY REoUEsr.1
[BY REoUEsr.l
From The Boston EUensRg Gazette.
TO AERlEED.-Rv ,our PTFRPoNr.


From the Boston EUentng Gazette.
TO A FRIEND.-BY JOHN FIERPoNT.
FRIEND Of my dark and solitary hour,
When sPectres walk abroad, and ghosts have power
10 thee look to disspate the gloom,
ana nanlsh sheeled cOrpses from my room:
IhOu r. not thysef cOrpse, though past all doubt
Thou hast been a dead body, and " laid out"
Nor ar! thou quite ghost, though s0oth to say
Mueh like ghost, thou yanishest away,
tA' IKE the ghost in Shakspeares tragic tale
(lhat OF the royal Dane,) thou IT very pale.
Life Of my nights, thy cheering smile impart!
Light ofmy iUne and melancholy heart,
Come, stand beside me, and with silent gaze,
y erook the hue I'm weaving in thy praise.
But, should my numbers, like myself, decline,
Start not Indignant from thy silver shrine,
Such panegyric, though incens'd, to hear,
Nor, like the Cymhian, ~ touch my !ingling ear.
Yea@though feel thy warm breath in my face,
LIE: not my finger press thy polished form,
Lest like PygInaion, should find thee warm.
Thou art not cold as marble, tho thou'rt fair
As smoothest alabasser statues are,
Thou, 1T like the lamp that hrghrens wisdoms page;
Thou IT like glass to the dim eye Of age;
Thou TT like the lantern Hero held, Of yore,
On Sestos tower, TO light Leander Ger.
lhou art the friend OF Beauty and otWt;
Both beam the brighter when with thee they Sit.
Thou givs to Beauty's cheek softer hue,
Spnnklest on Beauty's lip a fresher dew,
Glvst her with warmer eloquence to sigh,
And wing loves shafts more heated from her eye.
Still, pure myself, as Nova Zembla's SHOWS,
Thy blood bounds MOTT regularly flows.
Thou dos't not feel, nor wake, impure desire;
For, though thou sandest with thy soul on fire,
Beside my couch, in oil thy glowing charms,
sleep, nor dream clasp thee in my arms.
~ Thy faithiulness, my FRIEND thou oft-hast shown.
And when the world has frowned, thou would'st be-
guile
Ny hours Of sadness with thy cheerful smile.
Yet well know-forgive the painful thought
hOII kni knne kro,% h.>,,,
Yes, friend, thou hast been venal, and hast known
The time, when. just as freely as my own
Thou mghtest, for triae, have been led
TO grace the hey veres, STRANGERS board Or bed
Not doubling, for a moment, that thou'l. be
As true to them as thou art true to me.
While thus praise thee, do not pretend
That, though faithful, thou'r fautess friend.
Excuse me, then-I do no: love to blame
When. tor thy sake, thy faults briefly name.
Though often present when debates wax warm, =
On Slavery, or the Temperance reform,
II 'er have known thee lift thy voice or hand,
The car Of Reformation through the land
Onward to roll. Thou knowest well thatI
Drink nothing but cold water, when I'm dry;
i is my daily bath, my daily drink
MIA, What, then, with all thy virtues, must think,
When, as thou seest my goblet filling up,
Or the pure crystal flowing from the cup,
In cool retreshment, DER my parching lip,
never can persuade thee cen to sip
Nay-when thou hearst it with so i'll grace,
Il hut drop sprinkle in thy face
Thou know st puts thee out And them once more,
Tobacco juice, on carpet, hearth, or floor,
can't endure And yet. know, thou NEWEST
Such things unmov'd. | say not that thou chewest
The Indian weed but I'm in error far
II I've not seen thee lighting cigar:
Fie! Fie /! my friend. eschew the nauseous stuff!
hate thy smoking de,est thy snuff -
True, should my ccnsures 4 retort provoke,
Thou may at reply that SPANISH ladies' smoke;
And TINT EN- Editors n re niea sod onOnuh
Sometimes to take. as oft they give, puff.
All well, "with all thy faults''-as Cowper says,
~! love thee still" and still sing thy praise:
These few bad habits o'erlook in thee;
For, who, on earth, from every fault isiree!
Still, my fair friend, the poisonous gall that drips
On virtues robe; from Scandals viper lips,
Hath fall'n on thee. When innocence and youth
He, victims are, she seems to tell the truth,
While yet she lies. But when, with deadly fangs,
She strikes at thee, and on thy mantle hangs,
She seems resolved different game totry:
She tells the truth, but seems to tell lie,
And calls thee-thy tried character to stain
"The wicked fiction Of some monsters brain -
Wicked" let all such sanderers be told
Thy maker cast thee in an upright mould; ~
And, though thou may'st be swnyed tits ne Ter to ill.,
Bni thou maintainest thine uprightness still.
See thee engaged in some illustrious deed!
Seelhee thy self and all thou hast, to spend,
Like holy Paul, 10 benefit thy friend
And, BY the couch where wakeful woe appears
See thee dissolve, like Niobe, in tears
Zen now, as, gazing on thy slender frame,
That ike my own, still feeds The vital fame,
strive to catch thy beauty s modest ray,
Methinks l see thee sink, in slow decay,
Beneath the fame that's kindled by my breath.
And preys upon thy heart-strngs till thy death,
Yet, in thy melting mood, thy heart is light,
Thy smile is cheerful. and thy vsnge bright
And, in thy pallid form, see displny'd
The Cyprian Goddess and the Martial maid
For thou did'st spring, like Venus, from the main,
And. like Minerva, from thunderer's brain.
What though thou art fiction T.. still, forsooth
Fiction may brow rs fair light as Truth.
But, thou'r wicked fiction - yet, the while.
No crime is thine, and thon'rt unknown to guile.
In frey trials, have seen thee stand
Firm, and more pure than cen thy makers hand;
And deeds Of darkness, crimsoned Ter with shame,
Shrink from thine eye as from devourng fame.
True at thy post. I've ever seen thee stay,
Yet, lruant like, I've seen thee run away;
And, though that want Of firmness deplOre,
Vert thou less wicked thou would ct still more.
Vert thou more wicked, and less modest too,
The need of greater virtue were thy due.
Vert thou 'ess wicked, thou would less dispense
The beams Of beauty and benevoence.
Light Of my gloomy hours thy name bless
The more, the greater is thy wickedness.
o.. What yankee-what Gdipus thinks
He can GUESS out this Friend" Of
THE SPHINX
~ "-CynGhius Guren-ueua." Virg. Eel. VI. !, 3.
0snd kfoS L. 4 I $40 ~