At times she may join me at a gala,
Or cometh a way of public travel,
So that eyes may feast on her as I do.
It can hurt not to be seen with beauty,
But to go around shouting your distaste
Of who, how, and where I may choose to love.
I forget not the many years past
The joys, the times, and all the adventures
That far outweigh any she could create.
I ask you to remember three years past,
This very same day if mind serves me well,
A foul drunkard, not knowing his limit,
Consumed liquor enough for seven men.
Would any woman of love be so strong
To carry that man the distance to home?
Or clean for him when all his senses fail?
None but you, good friend, would offer thyself
With so much to give and to ask for none.
Therefore my friend, take this of my speeches:
WOmen come and go, but friends are forever.