To friendship – Alberto Lista
The sweet illusion of my first age,
from the raw disappointment the bitterness,
sacred friendship, pure virtue
I sang with a voice now soft, now severe.
Not from Helicon the flattering branch
my humble genius seeks to conquer;
memories of my evil and my fortune,
stealing from sad oblivion just waits.
To no one but you, dear Albino,
owes my tender and loving chest
of his affections to consecrate history.
You taught me how to feel, you the divine
song and generous thought:
My verses are yours and that is my glory.
Alberto Lista, poet, educator and priest, a reference in Spanish literature at the end of the 18th century and first half of the 19th century, presents friendship as a refuge in the midst of life’s difficultiesthe bond that unites people and a comfort in times of adversity.
Sonnet XII – Francisco de Aldana
Who can without a woe to the soul sent,
without tears shed a hundredfold,
without sighing so much that the wind can
the contrasting waves of the angry sea?
Who can, I say, oh miserable fate!
without giving away such a high feeling,
the doubts declare of that torment
that oppress our souls has not hesitated?
Together we cry, my Frónimo, the absence
of my sun and your light now suits us
more than a soul of infernal weight afflicted,
that if it consists of only the presence
our living of those who without it have us
absent, who will know what life is?
The 16th century Spanish poet Francisco de Aldana dedicated this poem to his friend Frónimo and in it he reflects his sadness for the absence of his friend and the pain it causes in your soul.
Just friendship – Jorge Isaacs
To the eternal friendship that you swear to me,
Your disdain and your forgetfulness I already prefer.
Did your eyes only offer me friendship?
Did my lips only ask you for friendship?
For your perjury, in payment for my perjury,
Of your cowardly love, my love as a reward,
You demand today, now to tear you away
From the humiliated heart I cannot!
If I have not dreamed that I loved you and you loved me,
If that happiness has not been a dream
and our love was a crime… that crime
He joined you to my life with an eternal bond.
When in the light of the luxurious glow,
Of the green shore in the hills
You picked wild flowers for me
With what I adorned your black curls;
When at the top of the rock, the river
At our feet rolling turbulently,
Free as the birds that crossed
The blue horizon with slow flight,
I pressed you trembling in my arms
And my kisses wiped away your tears…
So you offered me only friendship?
Did my lips only ask you for friendship?
The Colombian writer Jorge Ricardo Isaacs Ferrer explores, in this poem, the tension that can arise between friendship and loveand how heartbreak can transform into a feeling of pain and despair.
The Arrow and the Song – Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
I shot an arrow into the blue sky.
It fell to the ground, I don’t know where.
He left so quickly that the sight
He was unable to continue his flight.
I released a song into the air.
It fell to the ground, I don’t know where.
What eyes can follow the flight
infinity of a song?
Much later I found in an oak tree
the arrow, still intact;
and the song, I found it again
in the heart of a friend.
American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow reflects on the lasting impact of our actions (represented by the arrow) and our words (represented by the song). Although we do not always see the immediate effect of what we do or say, Our actions and words can have deep meaning in the lives of others..
To Lope de Vega Carpio – Pedro Calderón de la Barca
Although the persecution
The wise man fears envy,
do not receive any grievance,
which is to be approval.
Those who boast the most are,
Lope, those you envy,
and in his presumption you will see
what your glories deserve;
Well, those who magnify you the most
They are the ones who envy you the most.
Calderón de la Barca dedicated this poem to his friend Lope de Vega, another of the greatest playwrights and poets of the Spanish Golden Age. A testimony of the friendship and mutual respect of two great writers.
Friendship – Juan Ruiz de Alarcón y Mendoza
Increase of prosperous fortune
and relief in the unhappy; master key
that with a natural secret knows
two wills enclosed in one;
of the human government the colony;
sure anchor of the uncertain ship
of mortal life: soft power
that keeps everything the moon sees in peace
It is holy friendship, divine virtue
that does not delay tenella’s prize,
for she herself is the fruit of herself;
to whom nature so inclines
that the man knows how to live without her
knows how to warn the most brutal animal.
This text by the Golden Age writer Juan Ruiz de Alarcón y Mendoza, which is part of the work The similar to himself, celebrates friendship as something divine that enriches life human and provides support in times of prosperity and comfort in times of adversity.
Friends and books – Juan de Dios Peza
Choose, oh Juan!, a friend
frank, sincere and honest, who
when you are by his side no
you miss not being with me.
May he be interested in your good,
censure your errors, and in your
joys and pains be happy or
suffer too.
May I never incline you to evil, may
do not deceive or flatter you, and
applaud or encourage you with
equal disinterest.
That you can give your hand without
fear that it will stain it, a being
May your soul expand when
you call him brother.
Let him not show off false finery,
that does not hide the truth, and knows
that friendship is just love
wingless.
Oh, my Juan! I tell you, for
this world when crossing, it is very
difficult to find this treasure: a
friend.
And your choice is so serious that
I can tell you it commits to
future commits to
heart.
As your happiness is my desire, no
look for false witnesses
books and your friends
Present them to me, my Juan.
The Mexican poet and writer Juan de Dios Peza reflects on this poem about the qualities a true friend should have and the importance of choosing well the people around us.
Friendship – Antonio Plaza Llamas
Friendship… friendship… vain phrase!
man, by essence a merchant,
When he can buy he is a giant,
When he wants to sell he is a vile worm.
Since there is Mercury and Janus in friendship,
I become like everyone else, a trafficker,
I stand at the counter with good grace,
and I shake hands with those who shake hands with me.
My prudence avoids those who do not leave;
My candor woos those who do not take away;
and in my cash book it is written
This useful, excellent moral:
something always leaves what nothing takes away,
something always takes away what leaves nothing.
This poem by the Mexican poet Antonio Plaza Llamas is a scathing criticism of interested friendship and to the mercantilist nature of human relations.
Poem 24 – Rabindranath Tagore
Don’t keep the secret of your heart to yourself, my friend, tell me,
only to me, secretly.
Whisper your secret to me, you who have such a sweet smile; my ears
They won’t hear it, only my heart.
The night is deep, the house is silent, the birds’ nests
They are enveloped by sleep.
Through your wavering tears, through your fearful smiles,
Through your sweet shame and your sadness, tell me the secret of your
heart.
This poem by Bengali poet, philosopher and artist Rabindranath Tagore is part of The Gardener, a collection of poems that explore themes such as love, nature, spirituality and human relationships. In this, Tagore tells us about trust and the emotional connection between two people.
Ode to joy – Friedrich Schiller
Oh friends, cease those harsh songs!
Let us sing other more pleasant ones and
full of joy.
Joy, joy!
Joy, beautiful spark of the gods
daughter of Elysium!
Drunk with ardor we penetrate,
celestial goddess, in your sanctuary!
Your spell unites again
what the world had separated,
all men become brothers
there where your soft wing rests.
Whoever has achieved fortune
to possess the friendship of a friend, who
has conquered a delightful woman
join your joy to ours.
Yes, who can call his own though
only to one soul on the face of the Earth.
And whoever can’t do it,
let him walk away crying from this brotherhood.
All beings drink the joy
in the heart of nature,
all, the good and the bad,
They continue their path of roses.
He gave us kisses and kisses
and a faithful friend until death.
The worm was granted pleasure
and the cherub stand before God.
Joyful, like the stars that travel
the great celestial spaces,
travel, brothers,
on your way, happily,
like the hero towards victory.
Embrace yourselves, countless creatures!
May that kiss reach the entire world!
Brothers!, over the starry vault
A loving Father must live.
Do you not glimpse, O world, your Creator?
Look for it above the starry vault.
There, above the stars, he must live.
Joy, beautiful spark of the gods
daughter of Elysium!
Drunk with ardor we penetrate,
celestial goddess, in your sanctuary!
Your spell unites again
what the world had separated,
all men become brothers
there where your soft wing rests.
Joy, beautiful spark of the gods,
daughter of Elysium!
Joy, beautiful divine spark!
This poem by Schiller, one of the most famous in German literature and which became even more famous when Beethoven incorporated it into his Ninth Symphony, is a exaltation of friendship, brotherhood and universal happiness.
Rima XLII – Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer
When they told me I felt the cold
of a steel blade in the guts;
I leaned against the wall, and for a moment
I lost consciousness of where I was.
Night fell on my spirit;
The soul was drowned in anger and pity…
and then I understood why we cry,
and then I understood why he kills himself!
The cloud of pain passed… With sorrow
I managed to stammer a few short words…
Who gave me the news?… A faithful friend…
He was doing me a great favor!… I thanked him.
In this poem, included in his work Rimas, Bécquer expresses his reaction to painful news (probably a heartbreak), which ranges from surprise and pain to the understanding of human suffering. He thanks a loyal friend for telling him the news, even though it was devastating.
What do I have that my friendship seeks? -Lope de Vega
What do I have that my friendship seeks?
What interest do you follow, my Jesus,
that at my door covered in dew
Do you spend the dark winter nights?
Oh how hard my insides were,
Well, I didn’t open it to you! What a strange madness,
if my ingratitude the cold ice
dried the sores of your pure plants!
How many times the Angel told me:
«Soul, look out the window now,
You will see with how much love to call stubbornness!
And how many, sovereign beauty,
«Tomorrow we will open it,» he replied,
for the same answer tomorrow!
This sonnet by Lope de Vega is a religious poem that expresses the internal struggle between human indifference and the love of Christ. The question «What do I have that my friendship seeks?» shows the the poet’s surprise at the fact that Jesus, being so superior, seeks his friendship.
Ode XI, to Mr. Juan de Grial – Fray Luis de León
Collect now in the bosom
the field its beauty, the sky aoja
with sad light the pleasant
greenery, and leaf by leaf
the tops of the trees stripped.
Now Febo inclines his step
to the Aegean radiance; already of the day
the hours are short;
and Aeolus at noon,
blowing thick clouds he sends us;
now the avenging bird
of the Ibis navigates the cloudy
and with a hoarse voice he cries,
and, the yoke tied around the neck,
The oxen are breaking up the crops.
Time invites us
to noble studies, and fame,
Grail, to the rise
from the sacred mountain calls,
where the last flame will not be able to rise;
lengthens the well-guided
step and the…