Sonnets
Sonnet I To Friendship
Addressed to the Companion of My Tour
O balmy comfort through this varied maze
Of life! thou best physician to the breast,
With deep affliction’s venom’d sting opprest,
A thousand arts, a thousand winning ways
Are thine, to smooth the rugged brow of care,
And mitigate misfortune’s keenest hour:
Yes, A...., partner of my Cambrian Tour,
Friend of my heart, how gladly do I share
Thy confidence; whate’er my part may be
Hereafter, on this shifting stage of life,
This busy theatre of jarring strife,
May health and happiness attend both thee
And thine!—on One, thy heavenly Guardian, trust,
Nor doubt protection—all His ways are just.