Read the following poem carefully before you choose your answer. The following poem is addressed to a friend of the speaker.

Then hate me when thou wilt; if ever, now;
Now, while the world is bent my deeds to cross,
Join with the spite of fortune, make me bow,
And do not drop in for an after-loss:
(5) Ah, do not, when my heart has 'scaped this sorrow,
Come in the rearward of a conquered woe;
Give not a windy night a rainy morrow,
To linger out a purposed overthrow.
If thou wilt leave me, do not leave me last,
(10) When other petty griefs have done their spite;
But in the onset come, so shall I taste
At first the very worst of fortune's might;
And other strains of woe, which now seem woe,
Compared with loss of thee, will not seem so.
(1609)

Which of the following best describes the function of the poem's couplet?

A) It challenges the notion that the relationship will end.
B) It discounts the speaker's concerns with a hint of possible change.
C) It introduces an explanation for the speaker's strong feelings.
D) It remarks on the recipient's sudden and unexpected change of heart.
E) It summarizes why the relationship should be dissolved now.