The Friend Supreme — XL
O what a Friend is mine!
O what a burning Flame!
My Heart was parched and dead,
Till His Breath o’er me came.
When I before Him fled,
By Love’s Keen Pang distressed;
He cried, Why dost thou flee?
Thou art thyself to blame.
At Night I asked the Moon,
Where hid my Moon still stayed?
She said, My Cheek grew pale,
In Fear when told His Name.
The Sun, when risen, I asked,
And why art thou so dim?
He said, My Eyelids dull
In Tears have veil’d their Shame.
And to the Sea I said,
Why canst thou not be still?
She answer’d, Deep Unrest
Will leave me ne’er the Same.
I cried to Fire, Flame Queen:
Why flickerest thou So?
On me, she cried, He looked,
And quench’d all Earthly Aim.
I shouted then, O Wind:
Why hurriest to and fro?
She gasped, His Breath consumes me,
Whene’er my Pace I tame!
But what in me, too, meaneth
This elemental Strife?
The Cup in my Hand shaketh,
And Fever thrills my Frame.
In Revel’s Glow enraptured,
His Love I know my own:
Then, come, pour foaming Wine out,
Till o’er All flows His Name.