Moreover,  their  preciousness  in  absence  is  proved  by  the  desire  of  tlieir

presence :
Wlien  the  despairing  lover  waiteth  day  after  day,
Looking  for  a  word  in  reply,  one  word  writ  by  tliat  hand.
And  cursing  bitterly  tlie  morn  ushered  in  by  blank  disappointment :
Or  wlien  the  long-looked-for-answer  argueth  a  cooling  friend.
And  the  mind  is  plied  suspiciously  with  dark  inexplicable  doubts,
Wliile  thy  wounded  heart  counteth  its  imaginary  scars.
And  thou  art  the  innocent  and  injured,  that  friend  the  capricious  /uid  in

fault :
Or  when  the  earnest  petition,  that  craveth  for  thy  needs
Unheeded,  yea,  unopened,  tortureth  with  starving  delay  :
Or  when  the  silence  of  a  son,  who  would  have  written  of  his  welfare,
Racketh  a  father's  bosom  with  sharp-cutting  fears :
For  a  letter,  timely  writ,  is  a  rivet  to  the  cham  of  affection.
And  a  letter  untimely  delayed,  is  as  rust  to  the  soider.
The  pen,  flowing  with  love,  or  dipped  black  in  hate.
Or  tipped  with  delicate  courtesies,  or  harshly  edged  with  censure,
Hath  quickened  more  good  than  the  sun,  more  evil  than  the  sword.
More  joy  than  woman's  smile,  more  woe  than  frowning  fortune  ;
And  should st  thou  ask  my  judgment  of  that  which  hath  most  profiv  in  the

world.
For  answer  take  thou  tliis.  The  prudent  penning  of  a  letter

Tliou  hast  not  lost  an  hour,  whereof  there  is  a  record  ;
A  written  thought  at  midnight  shall  redeem  the  Uvelong  day.
4*


82  PROVERBIAL  PHILOSOPHY.
[dea  is  a  shadow  that  doparteth,  speech  is  fleeting  as  the  (vind,

Reading  is  an  unremembered  pastime  ;  but  a  writing  is  eternal :

For  therein  the  dead  heart  Hvetli,  the  clay-cold  tongue  is  eloquent,

And  the  quick  eye  of  the  reader  is  cleared  by  the  reed  of  the  scribe.
