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This decorative headpiece is centered on the page, following the text of “A Dream of Angus Oge” and acting as a headpiece illustration for “Friends.” The black rectangular cartouche with white lines depicts two naked figures, lying asleep on the ground, facing in opposite directions. The image is nearly symmetrical, except that the figure on the left faces away from the viewer, while the figure on the right faces towards the viewer. Between their heads, a rose bush sprouts up from the ground; its branches extend over the figures. White flowers and leaves dot the black background. Two birds fly into the frame in each upper corner of the image. The artist’s name is printed outside the picture frame, below the bottom right corner.

FRIENDS.

Though many will rise up against us,
    From the world that keeps lovers apart,
We shall yet have good friends, my beloved,
    To urge the sweet will of the heart.
The sun and the moon will be with you,
    Wheresoever your dwelling may be;
And the way of the winds ever blowing
    In secret between you and me;
And the passionate moods that enfold me
    In their life that can fail not nor tire,
Will flow through the hours of your exile,
    Full of yearning and tender desire.
Though the world send its arrows against us,
    We shall not be wholly apart,
For true lovers have friends, my beloved,
    Who urge the sweet will of the heart.

                                                                        Cecil French.

MLA citation:

French, Cecil. “Friends,” illustrated by Lewis Grant. The Green Sheaf, No. 4, 1903, p. 7. Green Sheaf Digital Edition, edited by Lorraine Janzen Kooistra, Yellow Nineties 2.0, Toronto Metropolitan University Centre for Digital Humanities, 2022. https://1890s.ca/GSV4-french-friends/

magazine_texts The Green Sheaf 4 Friends Cecil French 1903 Poetry