That we Should Benefit our Friends, Timothy Kendall

edited by Ann Wetmore

Timothy Kendall (fl. 1577) was an epigrammatist and minor poet of the sixteenth century. Born in North Aston, Oxfordshire, he received his education from Eton, Magdalen College, Oxford, and Staple Inn. Not a widely publicized poet, his best known work is his collection of epigrams titled Flowers of Epigrams, published in 1577. It is in this collection where "That we Should Benefit our Friends" appears.

  The crafty thief from battered chest
	doth filch thy coin away;
  The debtor nor the interest
	nor principal will pay.
  The fearful flame destroys the goods			5
	and letteth nought remain.
  The barren ground for seed received
	restoreth nought again.
  The subtle harlot naked strips
	her lover to the skin.				10
  If thou commit thyself to seas,
	great danger art thou in.
  Not that thou givest to thy friend,
	can fortune take away:
  That only that thou giv'st thy friend			15	
	thou shalt possess for ay.

3.nor] neither.
6.nought] nothing
13.that] that which.
16.for ay] for ever, eternally

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