Have you ever found yourself lost in the warmth of a cherished memory with friends?
Dive into 10 delightful poems that echo your own experiences, sparking nostalgia and joy as you reminisce about the bonds you share with your closest companions.
These poems will not only transport you back to those delightful times but also remind you of the importance of friendship in our lives.
Let’s get straight to it!
My favorite poem about friends
#1 “The Memory of the Heart” by Daniel Webster
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
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.
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.
This poem resonates deeply with me because it beautifully contrasts the transient nature of knowledge with the enduring power of friendship and love.
The opening lines remind me that while we can accumulate facts and information in our minds, these often fade away like images on a cold surface.
In contrast, the memories of my friends and the love we share are etched into my heart in a way that feels vibrant and alive.
9 more poems about friends
#2 “Friends” by Emily Elizabeth Dickinson
Are friends delight or pain?
Could bounty but remain
Riches were good.
But if they only stay
Bolder to fly away,
Riches are sad.
#3 “Early Friendship” by Aubrey Thomas de Vere
The half-seen memories of childish days,
When pains and pleasures lightly came and went;
The sympathies of boyhood rashly spent
In fearful wanderings through forbidden ways;
The vague, but manly wish to tread the maze
Of life to noble ends,—whereon intent,
Asking to know for what man here is sent,
The bravest heart must often pause, and gaze;
The firm resolve to seek the chosen end
Of manhood’s judgment, cautious and mature,—
Each of these viewless bonds binds friend to friend
With strength no selfish purpose can secure:
My happy lot is this, that all attend
That friendship which first came, and which shall last endure.
#4 From “Friendship and Home In Poetry and Song” by George Washington Nims
Couplets
In trying hours, true friends play well their part
Thus showing others that they have a heart.
True friends rejoice when you are prospering,
And to your door kind wishes love to bring.
True friends and a good home, how dear
To those who love and happiness revere!
#5 “A Melody. Inscribed To—” by Robert H. Taylor
Tho’ lost is the echo, and hushed is the sound
Of voices familiar and true,
We may yet hope for new friends, and prize them when found,
As we prized those we formerly knew.
For the heart that is lonely will other hearts beat,
In an unison holy and pure,
Where sorrows and joys alike fondly will meet,
While feeling and life shall endure.
Nor less will we value those joys that have fled,
When newer emotions are felt,
But recur to them freely whenever we tread
Through the halls where their brightness once dwelt.
#6 “We Have Been Friends Together” by Caroline Elizabeth Sarah (Sheridan) Norton
We have been friends together
In sunshine and in shade,
Since first beneath the chestnut-tree
In infancy we played.
But coldness dwells within thy heart,
A cloud is on thy brow;
We have been friends together,
Shall a light word part us now?
We have been gay together;
We have laughed at little jests;
For the fount of hope was gushing
Warm and joyous in our breasts,
But laughter now hath fled thy lip,
And sullen glooms thy brow;
We have been gay together,
Shall a light word part us now?
We have been sad together;
We have wept with bitter tears
O’er the grass-grown graves where slumbered
The hopes of early years.
The voices which were silent then
Would bid thee cheer thy brow;
We have been sad together,
Shall a light word part us now?
#7 “The Friend I Love To See” by George Washington Nims
The friend I love to see is one
Who has a sunny heart,
And from the joys of cheerfulness
Has no desire to part;
Who dares to stand up for the truth
And on base acts looks down,
And on the sins of treachery
Is not ashamed to frown.
Who loves to keep good company
And sunshine’s seeds to sow,
And in the realm of knowledge strives
Of wisdom more to know;
Whose word can be relied upon,
No matter when or where,
And on the stage of life doth not
Two faces wish to wear.
Who knoweth how to justly judge,
And not by style and gold,
Like those who would the lowly poor,
Aye, leave out in the cold;
Who never carries scandal’s news,
Or mischief loves to breed,
Or on insipid gossip’s food
Is ever known to feed.
Who can with others sympathize
And for another feel,
And, in the varied marts of trade,
Believes in a fair deal ;
Who to dumb animals is kind
And to his rivals fair,
And for the helpless and the weak
Is not the last to care.
Who never likes to twit and slur,
Or vulgar language use,
Or to be one who has to do
With mischief-making news ;
Who never would be quarrelsome,
Or ill- treat any one,
Or of misfortune be of those
Alas! who would make fun.
Who loves to be agreeable,
But never bold and rude,
And, where not wanted, never dares,
Or longs lo, to intrude;
Who strives to live the golden rule
And to please righteousness ,
And bright and happy seems when be
His fellow-men can bless.
#8 “The Friends I Used To Know” by George Washington Nims
While sitting by my cosy hearth,
How sweet it seems to me
When lightly drifts the winter snow
On mountain, hill and lea,
To think again of those I love,
Of friends my boyhood knew,
Who played with me when I was young
And to their vows were true!
How pleasing to recall the friends
That I have ne’er forgot,
With whom I often strolled when bright
And sunny was my lot;
When in a rustic ville I dwelt,
Far from the city’s din,
Where those who tread in justice’ paths
Unfriendly seemed to sin!
What hallowed scenes come back again
To comfort and to cheer,
As I in fancy see once more
The friends to me so dear;
While in my old arm-chair
I sit And think of days of yore,
Of happy seasons of the past
That I shall live no more!
So while I can in fancy see
The friends my childhood knew
The joyous friends I love so well,
Who were so kind and true;
I’ll oft recall life’s sweetest hours
And keep their memory green,
And seem to be a boy again
In many a pleasing scene.
#9 “Friendship” by Joseph Horatio Chant
When presses hard my load of care,
And other friends from me depart,
I want a friend my grief to share,
With faithful speech and loving heart.
I want a friend of noble mind,
Who loves me more than praise or pelf,
Reproves my faults with spirit kind,
And thinks of me as well as self–
A friend whose ear is ever closed
Against traducers’ poison breath;
And, though in me be not disclosed
An equal love, yet loves till death–
A friend who knows my weakness well,
And ever seeks to calm my fears;
If words should fail the storm to quell,
Will soothe my fevered heart with tears–
A friend not moved by jealousy
Should I outrun him in life’s race;
And though I doubt, still trusts in me
With loyal heart and cloudless face.
True friendship knows both joy and grief,
The sweetest pleasure, keenest pain;
Its sharpest pangs are ever brief,
Mere flitting clouds before the rain.
But soon the joy returns again
With bluer sky and brighter light;
The grief proves but a narrow glen
All full of flowers, though hid from sight.
And e’en in darkness we inhale
The fragrant odors love emits;
Friendship like this can never fail–
On love’s strong throne its monarch sits.
True friendship is of greater worth
Than words, though they were solid gold.
To all the glittering gems of earth
I it prefer, a thousandfold.
One Friend I have who knows my heart,
And loves me with a changeless love;
I love Him, too–nor death can part
Us two, for we will love above.
A woman’s love to His is faint;
No brother cleaves as close as He;
No seraph words could ever paint
The love this Friend now bears to me.
#10 From “On Friendship” by Nicholas Grimald
Of all the heavenly gifts that mortal men commend,
What trusty treasure in the world can countervail a friend?
Our health is soon decayed; goods, casual, light and vain;
Broke have we seen the force of power, and honor suffer stain.
In body’s lust man doth resemble but base brute;
True virtue gets and keeps a friend, good guide of our pursuit,
Whose hearty zeal with ours accords in every case;
No term of time, no space of place, no storm can it deface.
When fickle fortune fails, this knot endureth still;
Thy kin out of their kind may swerve, when friends owe thee good-will.
What sweeter solace shall befall, than [such a] one to find
Upon whose breast thou may’st repose the secrets of thy mind?
He waileth at thy woe, his tears with thine be shed;
With thee doth he all joys enjoy, so leef a life is led.
Behold thy friend, and of thyself the pattern see,
One soul, a wonder shall it seem in bodies twain to be;
In absence present, rich in want, in sickness sound,
Yea, after death alive, mayst thou by thy sure friend be found.
Each house, each town, each realm, by thy steadfast love doth stand;
While foul debate breeds bitter bale in each divided land.
O Friendship, flower of flowers! O lively sprite of life!
O sacred bond of blissful peace, the stalworth staunch of strife!