Anne Finch, Countess Of Winchilsea(1661–1720)
Friendship between Ephelia and Ardelia
Eph. What Friendship is, Ardelia show.
Ard. Tis to love, as I love you.
Eph. This account, so short (tho' kind)
Suits not my inquiring mind.
Therefore farther now repeat:
What is Friendship when complete
Ard. 'Tis to share all joy and grief;
'Tis to lend all due relief
From the tongue, the heart, the hand;
'Tis to mortgage house and land;
For a friend be sold a slave;
Tis to die upon a grave,
If a friend therein do lie.
Eph. This indeed, tho' carried high, 5
This, tho' more than e'er was done
Underneath the rolling sun,
This has all been said before.
Can Ardelia say no more
Ard. Words indeed no more can show:
But 'tis to love, as I love you.