Martial, : the twelve books of Epigrams,.

BOOK FIVE

XVII
A MESALLIANCE
SHE said her traditions had taught her
That she as a nobleman's daughter
Couldn't marry a Knight,
Tho' a Baron she might,
And then she eloped with a porter.
XVIII
TO QUINTIANUS
'TIS the season when we send
Little gifts from friend to friend,
Tablets, kerchiefs without end,
Slender spoons;
Tapers too are popular,
And from Syrian lands afar,
You may get a narrow jar
Full of prunes.
Do I seem to you unkind?
Do I show a stingy mind
If my offering is confined
To my book?
Nay, let others calculate;
'Tis an artifice I hate
When a present is a bait
On a hook?
When the char with greedy eye
Sees the lure go floating by,
He is taken by the fly,
And it's plain
If I do not give at all
To the rich, my purse is small,
So 'tis truly liberal
To abstain.
* XIX
TO DO.1IITIAN
IF we may trust the truth, thlis age of tlJine,
Great sire, in fame doth all the past,(Iktshllf.
When could we look on triump)lis bette r g;iiiid?
When have the gods more duly thanks obtail ed?
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