Martial, : the twelve books of Epigrams,.

BOOK SIX
He may at first quite placid be
And lick your hand in gentle fashion,
But if you hurt him you will see
What bears can do when in a passion.
So do not you the strife begin
Nor yet provoke his foaming jaw.
Bite, if you must, an empty skin
And find some quiet meat to gnaw.
LXV
ON EPIGRAM1 LXIV
HEXAMETERS for epigrams '-absurd!
Such breach of rules, you say, is simply awful!
Yet others use that metre-in a word,
'Tis lawful.
But yours are long, you say: That's lawful too:
Many have written so, you can't deter them,
And you can read the distiches if you
Prefer them.
We'll make a bargain-you shall license me
To write long epigrams nor need to clip them,
While, Tucca, on your part you shall be free
To skip them.
* LXVI
THE BOLD AUCTIONEER
OUR friend Gellianus had sent him for sale
A certain young damsel-whereby hangs a tale.
She was one of the sort who Suburra frequent
And bore some plain signs of the life she had spent;
So wishing to show there was not any riskFor the bidding ran low and was not at all briskHe plucked up his courage and kissed the coy dear,
Twice, thrice, and again, just to make matters clear.
And what do you think by his courage he got?
The one bid-five pounds-was withdrawn on the spot.
LXVII
CUR tantum eunuchos habeat tua Caelia, quaeris,
Pannyche? Uolt futui Caelia nec parere.
I85