Classic Poem

I COURT your dinners, truth to tell,
'Tis mean as I'm aware;
But you're a parasite as well —
And so we are a pair.

I come to call, and hear that you
Have gone to call elsewhere;
You cringe before a patron too —
And so we are a pair.

In town I join your escort's van
And walk before you there;
But you escort some other man —
And so we are a pair.

If serve I must, a master free
Shall be the boon I crave;
Though ill that fate, 'tis worse to be
The servant of a slave.