Martial, : the twelve books of Epigrams,.

MARTIAL'S EPIGRAMS

* XL
TO TELESINUS
JUST because from the wealth that your coffers contain
You consented a thousand to lend,
You think you've obliged me: but let me explain,
It's the one who repays that's the friend.
* XLI
ON AN EMBOSSED GOBLET
SET on this bowl, by Mentor's hand portrayed,
The lizard lives; to touch we are afraid.
XLII
TO POLLA
You daub your face and think I shall not see
Your wrinkles. You deceive yourself, not me.
A small defect is nothing when revealed;
But greater seems the blemish ill concealed.
XLIII
TO LAETINUS

You seem a youth to look upon.
You dyed your hair-and lo,
The locks once whiter than a swan
Are blacker than a crow.
Not everyone can you deceive
And, though you hide the grey,
Yet Proserpine will not believe
But snatch the mask away.
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