Book and Briar

The second stanza of the five-stanza poem, “I Have a Few Friends,” by Canadian Poet Robert Service [1874-1958] elebrates the friendship of book and briar:

I have some friends, some honest friends,

And honest friends are few;

My pipe of briar, my open fire,

A book that’s not too new;

My bed so warm, the nights of storm

I love to listen to.

Source: Collected Poems of Robert Service