Page:Romance of the Rose (Ellis), volume 2.pdf/61

Friendship outlasts death When comes the last and dreadful day,
And all our bodies ’neath the sway
Of death must fall; but even then
Death, nought, dear friend, can snatch from men
Except their bodies and recall
To earth their substance corporal.

Death’s iron hand will seize us both
Ere long, however much we’re loth
To meet him.
Rarely doth Death take
Two friends together, yet I make8550
No question if I first am ta’en,
I still shall in your heart remain
Embalmed; or if ’tis yours to die
Before me, rest assured that I
Shall keep your memory green.
E’en so
The records of past ages show
How bitterly great Theseus grieved
When Peirithous from him was reived
By death, and sought his friend in hell.

But Poverty is far more fell8560
And cruel than grim Death: to soul
And body both it bringeth dole,
Without the respite of an hour,
And urgeth men to actions dour,
Of murder, theft, and perjury,
And whatso other vice may be
Wherewith man’s race is pesterèd,
While oftentimes doth Death bestead