A Friend in Need [poem by Louisa Lawson]

[Editor: This poem by Louisa Lawson was published in “The Lonely Crossing” and Other Poems (1905).]

A Friend in Need.

Friends will quickly leave you,
Slight you and deceive you,
Or will not believe you
If you have a wrong.

Those who hurt will hate you,
Enemies will slate you,
And as cranks disrate you
If you have a wrong.

But if you are righted
Those who coolly slighted
Will be so delighted!
Said so all along!

But you then can show them
That you would forego them,
As too well you know them
Since you’ve had a wrong.

But your friends, God bless them!
Take their hands and press them,
You’ll not have to guess them
If you’ve had a wrong.

Source:
Louisa Lawson, “The Lonely Crossing” and Other Poems, Sydney: Dawn Office, [1905], pp. 9-10

Editor’s notes:
disrate = to reduce or lower the rating or rank of someone or something; (in a naval context) to demote a sailor

slate = to harshly criticise someone or something (especially referring to a harsh criticism made in public)

[Editor: Changed “And as crank disrate you” to “And as cranks disrate you” (note: “And as crank disrate you” also appears in the 1909 edition, p. 9).]