| John Donne (1572–1631). The Poems of John Donne. 1896. | | | | Appendix B. Poems hitherto Uncollected | | On Friendship |
| | | FRIENDSHIP on earth we may as easily find, | |
| As he the North-west passage that is blind; | |
| It’s not unlike th’ imaginary stone, | |
| That tatter’d chemists long have doted on. | |
| Sophisticate affection’s not the best, | 5 |
| The world affords few friends will bide the test; | |
| They’ll make a glorious show a little space, | |
| But tarnish in the rain, like copper lace; | |
| Or, melted in affliction, in one day | |
| They’ll smoke and stink and vapour quite away. | 10 |
| We miss the true materials, choosing friends; | |
| On virtue we project not, but our ends. | |
| So by desert, while we embrace too many, | |
| We courted are like ——, not loved by any. | |
| Good deeds ill placed, which we on most men heap, | 15 |
| Are seeds of that ingratitude we reap; | |
| For he that is so sweet, that none denies, | |
| Is made of honey for the nimble flies. | |
| Choose one or two companions for thy life | |
| But be as true, as thou wouldst have thy wife. | 20 |
| Though he lives joyless, that enjoys no friend, | |
| He, that has many, pays for ’t in the end. | | | | |
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