Dear Friends by Edwin Arlington Robinson
The speaker asks his friends not to reproach, advise, or pity him for devoting himself to “bubble-work” that they may consider foolish and unprofitable. If his ambitions seem too small, they should pursue greater ones themselves. He sees the games people use to fill their days as lenses through which the spirit can be read. Those who understand this may gain insight and abandon contempt for pursuits they themselves disapprove of. He insists that the disgrace attached to his singing belongs to him alone, while the wealth sacrificed through dreaming belongs to his friends.
By Edwin Arlington Robinson · First published 1916 · Genre: Lyric Poetry, Reflective Poetry, Philosophical Poetry · 151 words
First lines
DEAR friends, reproach me not for what I do, / Nor counsel me, nor pity me; nor say
That I am wearing half my life away
For bubble-work that only fools pursue.
And if my bubbles be too small for you,
What this Textopian page supports
Dear Friends is listed on Textopian as a poem by Edwin Arlington Robinson, dated 1916 CE.
This source record anchors work identity, reading entry points, and catalog context for checking claims about the work.
- Work type: Poem
- Author: Edwin Arlington Robinson
- Date: 1916 CE
- Language: English
- Genres: Lyric Poetry, Reflective Poetry, Philosophical Poetry, Sonnet, Literary or Ars Poetica Poetry
- Length: 151 words
- Structure: 1 section, 8 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Standard (8th-9th Grade)
Good citation fit
- Work identity for Dear Friends by Edwin Arlington Robinson
- Canonical title URL and first readable passage URL
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Genres
- Lyric Poetry — A concise first-person poem expressing the speaker's personal feelings, artistic values, and defiant response to criticism.
- Reflective Poetry — The poem meditates on time, ambition, imagination, social judgment, and the meaning of apparently trivial pursuits.
- Philosophical Poetry — It advances a philosophical defense of dreaming and artistic creation against materialistic standards of usefulness and profit.
- Sonnet — The work follows a fourteen-line sonnet form, using a structured rhyme scheme and a concluding turn in argument.
Tags
poetry · American literature · early twentieth century · lyric poems · dramatic monologue · psychological insight · melancholy · isolation · disillusionment · human nature · small-town life · social alienation