Martial, : the twelve books of Epigrams,.

MARTIAL'S EPIGRAMS

THE DULL LEVEL
MY work's uneven, you protest
And sometimes falls beneath my best;
A compliment, say I:
Dull bards on level plains that grope
Shall never err-or soar-with Pope,
Although they shine with Pye.
* XCI
TO JUVENAL WITH A CHRISTMAS PRESENT
THESE nuts at Saturn's feast to thee I send,
Dear Juvenal, my friend.
The rest to girls Priapus gave away,
\Vith whom he loves to play.
XCII
VAIN WORDS
TEN times a day I've heard you say, ' If there is aught you
need,
Pray come to me and you will see I am a friend indeed.'
I'm hailed for debt with angry threat, with usurers I plead,
But though you hear, you are not clear if there is aught I
need.
My landlord came his rent to claim; though there, you gave
no heed
To my distress, but cannot guess if there is aught I need.
'Tis all in vain that I complain my cloak has run to seed.
'Tis worn and chill; you wonder still if there is aught I need.
Ye stars malign, your powers combine false chatter to impede,
And let this bore not ask me more if there is aught I need.
XCIII
TO QUINTUS O1'IDIUS IN ABSENCE
NARNIA, aloof upon thy cloven hill
Where milk-white eddies ever whirl and play,
Why wilt thou keep my Quintus from me still?
'Tis thy delight to hold my friend away;
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