I may not alway dwellen here,
For everything shall have an ende,
And frendes are not ay ifere:"
and, skilled in all the lore of old ballads, almost as much as himself, she answered at once, from that beautiful song of the days of the Black Prince--
"For frendship and for giftès goode,
For mete and drink so grete plentie,
That lord that raught was on the roode,
He kepe the comeli companie.
"On sea or lande where that ye be,
He governe you withouten greve;