Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Shakespeare in Love ❯ 32 ( Chapter 12 )

[ A - All Readers ]

If thou survive my well-contented day,
When that churl Death my bones with dust shall cover
And shalt by fortune once more re-survey
These poor rude lines of thy deceased lover,
Compare them with the bett'ring of the time,
And though they be outstripped by every pen,
Reserve them for my love, not for their rhyme,
Exceeded by the height of happier men.
O! then vouchsafe me but this loving thought:
'Had my friend's Muse grown with this growing age,
A dearer birth than this his love had brought,
To march in ranks of better equipage:
But since he died and poets better prove,
Theirs for their style I'll read, his for his love'.
 
-Sonnet 32
 
Jiraiya had always known that Tsunade would outlive him. He also knew that, eventually, his novels would be forgotten. He just hoped that she would remember him because he loved her more than anyone else.