To A Friend

ADAM, because on the mind's roads Your mouth is always in a hurry, Because you know odes And ways to make a curry, Because you fall in love with words And whistle beauty forth to kiss them, And blow the tails from China birds Whilst I continually miss them, Because you top my angry best At billiards, fugues or pulling corks out, And whisk a fritter from its nest Before there's time to hand the forks out, Because you saw the Romans wink, Because your senses dance to metre, Because, no matter what I drink, You'll hold at least another litre, Because you've got a gipsy's eye That melts the rage of catamountains, And metaphors that pass me by Burst from your lips in lovely fountains, Because you've bitten the harsh foods Of life, grabbed every dish that passes, And walked amongst the multitudes Without the curse of looking-glasses, Because I burn the selfsame flame No falls of dirty earth may smother, Oh, in your Abbey of Thélème, Enlist me as a serving-brother!