Bliss Carman, et al., eds. The World’s Best Poetry.
Volume I. Of Home: of Friendship. 1904. | | | | Poems of Friendship | | The Memory of the Heart | | Daniel Webster (1782–1852) |
| | | IF stores of dry and learnèd lore we gain, | |
| We keep them in the memory of the brain; | |
| Names, things, and facts,—whate’er we knowledge call,— | |
| There is the common ledger for them all; | |
| And images on this cold surface traced | 5 |
| Make slight impression, and are soon effaced. | |
| But we ’ve a page, more glowing and more bright, | |
| On which our friendship and our love to write; | |
| That these may never from the soul depart, | |
| We trust them to the memory of the heart. | 10 |
| There is no dimming, no effacement there; | |
| Each new pulsation keeps the record clear; | |
| Warm, golden letters all the tablet fill, | |
| Nor lose their lustre till the heart stands still. | | | | |
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