MISFORTUNE to have lived not knowing thee! <br />’T were not high living, nor to noblest end, <br />Who, dwelling near, learned not sincerity, <br />Rich friendship’s ornament that still doth lend <br />To life its consequence and propriety. <br />Thy fellowship was my culture, noble friend: <br />By the hand thou took’st me, and did’st condescend <br />To bring me straightway into thy fair guild; <br />And life-long hath it been high compliment <br />By that to have been known, and thy friend styled, <br />Given to rare thought and to good learning bent; <br />Whilst in my straits an angel on me smiled. <br />Permit me, then, thus honored, still to be <br />A scholar in thy university.<br /><br />Amos Bronson Alcott<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/emerson/
