2019.01.19 00:25
By Edgar Guest
I do not say new friends are not considerate and true,
Or that their smiles ain't genuine, but still I'm tellin' you
That when a feller's heart is crushed and achin' with the pain,
And teardrops come a-splashin' down his cheeks like summer rain,
Becoz his grief an' loneliness are more than he can bear,
Somehow it's only old friends, then, that really seem to care.
The friends who've stuck through thick an' thin, who've known you, good an' bad,
Your faults an' virtues, an' have seen the struggles you have had,
When they come to you gentle-like an' take your hand an' say:
'Cheer up! we're with you still,' it counts, for that's the old friends' way.
The new friends may be fond of you for what you are today;
They've only known you rich, perhaps, an' only seen you gay;
You can't tell what's attracted them; your station may appeal;
Perhaps they smile on you because you're doin' something real;
But old friends who have seen you fail, an' also seen you win,
Who've loved you either up or down, stuck to you, thick or thin,
Who knew you as a budding youth, an' watched you start to climb,
Through weal an' woe, still friends of yours an' constant all the time,
When trouble comes an' things go wrong, I don't care what you say,
They are the friends you'll turn to, for you want the old friends' way.
The new friends may be richer, an' more stylish, too, but when
Your heart is achin' an' you think your sun won't shine again,
It's not the riches of new friends you want, it's not their style,
It's not the airs of grandeur then, it's just the old friend's smile,
The old hand that has helped before, stretched out once more to you,
The old words ringin' in your ears, so sweet an', Oh, so true!
The tenderness of folks who know just what your sorrow means,
These are the things on which, somehow, your spirit always leans.
When grief is poundin' at your breast — the new friends disappear
An' to the old ones tried an' true, you turn for aid an' cheer.
Source: https://www.familyfriendpoems.com/poem/old-friends-by-edgar-guest
No. | Subject | Date | Author | Last Update | Views |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Notice | How to write your comments onto a webpage [2] | 2016.07.06 | 운영자 | 2016.11.20 | 18170 |
Notice | How to Upload Pictures in webpages | 2016.07.06 | 운영자 | 2018.10.19 | 32312 |
Notice | How to use Rich Text Editor [3] | 2016.06.28 | 운영자 | 2018.10.19 | 5896 |
Notice | How to Write a Webpage | 2016.06.28 | 운영자 | 2020.12.23 | 43813 |
339 | [Poem] The Mystery of Life [3] | 2019.09.03 | 이한중*65 | 2019.09.04 | 12199 |
338 | [東漢] 行行重行行(행행중행행): 가고 가고 또 가고... [2] | 2019.09.02 | 정관호*63 | 2022.08.18 | 329 |
337 | [고려가요] 가시리 [15] | 2019.08.31 | 정관호*63 | 2024.02.21 | 6377 |
336 | 김소월 시 세편 [3] | 2019.08.25 | 정관호*63 | 2022.08.22 | 122 |
335 | [현대 시] 내 고향 김억 [4] | 2019.08.19 | 정관호*63 | 2024.02.20 | 230 |
334 | [후한]塘上行(당상행): 연못의 비가. 甄皇后(진황후) [2] | 2019.08.07 | 정관호*63 | 2022.08.24 | 184 |
333 | 琵琶行(비파행) 白居易(백거이) [6] | 2019.07.10 | 정관호*63 | 2022.08.22 | 224 |
332 | [Poem]It Is That Dream/Olav H. Hauge [5] | 2019.07.08 | 이한중*65 | 2019.07.09 | 11434 |
331 | old doc.JHC [6] | 2019.07.07 | 조중행*69 | 2019.07.09 | 280 |
330 | 虞美人草: 우미인초 [2] | 2019.06.26 | 정관호*63 | 2024.03.09 | 1415 |
329 | 江南曲(강남곡) 유운 [2] | 2019.05.19 | 정관호*63 | 2022.09.03 | 154 |
328 | 春江花月夜(춘강화월야): 봄강에 만발한 꽃 그리고 달밤 [2] | 2019.04.08 | 정관호*63 | 2023.02.06 | 963 |
327 | 宮詞(궁사): 궁중 음악 [1] | 2019.03.22 | 정관호*63 | 2024.02.12 | 189 |
326 | [Poems]Reciting Poems [8] | 2019.03.11 | 이한중*65 | 2019.03.12 | 56 |
325 | 山中問答(산중문답) 李白(이백): 산 속에서 문답하다 [4] | 2019.03.06 | 정관호*63 | 2024.02.12 | 7435 |
324 | 上山采蘼蕪(상산채미무): 산에 올라 향초를 캐다 [7] | 2019.03.02 | 정관호*63 | 2022.08.17 | 2861 |
323 | [Poem]Aging Gracefully [2] | 2019.02.25 | 이한중*65 | 2019.02.25 | 701 |
322 | My Grandson, Noah's Poem [4] | 2019.02.12 | 조승자#65. | 2019.02.14 | 216 |
321 | 除夜作 高適 [4] | 2019.02.09 | 정관호*63 | 2023.12.17 | 839 |
320 | [Poem]We Are The Champions! [9] | 2019.02.07 | 이한중*65 | 2019.02.10 | 510 |
On top of the morning in mid- January when
the headline news is 2000 flight cancellations in the east
and Midwest due to the arctic weather and snow,
I felt like dedicating a good old poem to all the good old friends
and acquaintances.
Indeed it is so true that a good old friend for the super seniors like me
is such a rare, precious, vanishing commodity that
I couldn't have agreed more with what this old, bygone, poet had to say.
Old friends, as Thomas Merton once said,
"Courage comes and goes; hold on for the next supply."