Love and Friendship

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BY EMILY BRONT

Love is like the wild rose-briar,

Friendship like the holly-tree
The holly is dark when the rose-briar blooms
But which will bloom most constantly?

The wild rose-briar is sweet in spring,

Its summer blossoms scent the air;
Yet wait till winter comes again
And who will call the wild-briar fair?

Then scorn the silly rose-wreath now

And deck thee with the hollys sheen,
That when December blights thy brow
He still may leave thy garland green.
Analysis:
Love and friendship are both essential, as they affect human beings in every
stage of life and also play with human emotion, while both concepts seem to
be ignored at times. In the first stanza, she suggests that love and friendship
often dont agree with each other, and it seems as though one will conquer
over the other at some point. The middle section of the poem continues
using similes and metaphors connecting friendship with holly, and love with
the rose. The final stanza concludes that friendship will win the battle, and be
long lasting over love. This poem is divided into three stanzas, each a
quatrain. Bronte deliberately mixes the meter from line to line for dramatic
effect, in order to highlight certain words to reinforce the image she creates.
Also, the number of syllables in each line varies, except for the last stanza,
where all the lines have a count of 8. Bronte uses many literary terms
throughout the poem. The whole poem, in fact, is an extended metaphor in
which love is being depicted as a sweet rose-briar and friendship a holly
branch. By illustrating the two concepts in this fashion, Bronte is able to
effectively suggest to the reader her thoughts on their coherence. The
metaphor allows the reader to paint a picture in their minds and apply it to
the general motif of love and friendship. Bronte also uses two alliterations in
the second stanza:" sweet in spring" and "summer blossoms scent" to make
the picture clearer and more detailed, because the alliterations help with the
flow of the words. Bronte also used a personification at the last stanza-
December. December cannot leave a garland green, but in Brontes case, it
can, because it was used to show the hollys endurance and strength.
7 Classic Poems About Friendship
Poetry And Friendship

Friendship, a theme that comes under the broader theme of love repeatedly throughout
poetic history. Whether its flowing verse or humorous rhymes, friendship is portrayed
time and time again by poets across the globe.

American poet, Robert Frost, expresses the value of his friendships through this short
poem. It details his efforts to prioritise time to talk with friends over his work.

A Time to Talk

When a friend calls to me from the road

And slows his horse to a meaning walk,
I dont stand still and look around
On all the hills I havent hoed,
And shout from where I am, What is it?
No, not as there is a time to talk.
I thrust my hoe in the mellow ground,
Blade-end up and five feet tall,
And plod: I go up to the stone wall
For a friendly visit.

William Blake, the historic English poet, paints wonderful imagery to help show the
importance of being open with our friends in his poem A Poison Tree. His use of
metaphor demonstrates the importance of letting go of hard feelings you may harbour
to help preserve a friendship, or run the risk of killing a friendship altogether.

A Poison Tree

I was angry with my friend:

I told my wrath, my wrath did end.
I was angry with my foe:
I told it not, my wrath did grow.

And I waterd it in fears

Night & morning with my tears;
And I sunned it with smiles,
And with soft deceitful wiles.
 And it grew both day and night,
Till it bore an apple bright.
And my foe beheld it shine,
And he knew that it was mine,

And into my garden stole,

When the night had veiled the pole;
In the morning glad I see
My foe outstretchd beneath the tree.

Before a friendship develops, most people are strangers. Henry David Thoreau captures
how two strangers can become best friends through this poem:

I Knew A Man By Sight

I knew a man by sight,

A blameless wight,
Who, for a year or more,
Had daily passed my door,
Yet converse none had had with him.

I met him in a lane,

Him and his cane,
About three miles from home,
Where I had chanced to roam,
And volumes stared at him, and he at me.

In a more distant place

I glimpsed his face,
And bowed instinctively;
Starting he bowed to me,
Bowed simultaneously, and passed along.

Next, in a foreign land

I grasped his hand,
And had a social chat,
About this thing and that,
As I had known him well a thousand years.

Late in a wilderness
I shared his mess,
For he had hardships seen,
And I a wanderer been;
He was my bosom friend, and I was his.

And as, methinks, shall all,

Both great and small,
That ever lived on earth,
 Early or late their birth,
Stranger and foe, one day each other know.

Good friends are a priceless addition to ones life, but to have good friends we must be
good friends. Gillian Jones demonstrates this through a poem written for her friend Ian.
She poetically lists all the wonderful qualities about him, but also reminds us: Do not
expect to just take and hold / Give friendship back, it is pure gold.

A Friend

A person who will listen and not condemn

Someone on whom you can depend
They will not flee when bad times are here
Instead they will be there to lend an ear
They will think of ways to make you smile
So you can be happy for a while
When times are good and happy there after
They will be there to share the laughter
Do not forget your friends at all
For they pick you up when you fall
Do not expect to just take and hold
Give friendship back, it is pure gold.

Angelica N. Brissett highlights the importance of friendship further. Her light-hearted

rhyme emphasises how a friend can support you through the harder times in your life
and provide you with a shoulder to cry on.

Friends for Life

We are Friends
I got your back
You got mine,
Ill help you out
Anytime!
To see you hurt
To see you cry
Makes me weep
And wanna die
And if you agree
To never fight
It wouldnt matter
Whos wrong or right
If a broken heart
Needs a mend
Ill be right there
Till the end
If your cheeks are wet
From drops of tears
 Dont worry
Let go of your fears
Hand in hand
Love is sent,
Well be friends
Till the end!!!!

William Shakespeare also wrote on friendship through this poetry. In his Sonnet 104 he
talks about the way in which friendship can transcend time he puts forward the idea
that strong friendships will weather time, despite the season.

Sonnet 104

To me, fair friend, you never can be old,

For as you were when first your eye I eyed,
Such seems your beauty still. Three winters cold
Have from the forests shook three summers pride;
Three beauteous springs to yellow autumn turned
In process of the seasons have I seen;
Three April prfumes in three hot Junes burned,
Since first I saw you fresh, which yet are green.
Ah yet doth beauty, like a dial hand,
Steal from his figure, and no pace perceived;
So your sweet hue, which methinks still doth stand,
Hath motion, and mine eye may be deceived.
For fear of which, hear this, thou age unbred:
Ere you were born was beautys summer dead.

What about the friendship of a lover? American author and poet, Ella Wheeler Wilcox,
explores the importance of friendship in a relationship and how a couple can miss their
friendship when love breaks down.

Friendship After Love

After the fierce midsummer all ablaze

Has burned itself to ashes, and expires
In the intensity of its own fires,
There come the mellow, mild, St.
Martin days
Crowned with the calm of peace, but sad with haze.

So after Love has led us, till he tires

Of his own throes, and torments, and desires,
Comes large-eyed Friendship: with a restful gaze.

He beckons us to follow, and across

Cool verdant vales we wander free from care.
 Is it a touch of frost lies in the air?
Why are we haunted with a sense of loss?
We do not wish the pain back, or the heat;
And yet, and yet, these days are incomplete.