Martial, : the twelve books of Epigrams,.

MARTIAL'S EPIGRAMS
* LVII
TO SEXTUS
EIGHT ounces of pepper! I'm sorry to state,
Instead of a pound of good bright silver-plate.
I will not disparage your kindness, my lord:
But pepper, at that price, I cannot afford.
* LVIII
TO FA USTINUS
A CALM retreat by Anxur's sparkling foam,
A nearer Baiae, and a seaside home,
A wood cicadas could not noisy make
In the hot summer, and a river lake;
While these were mine, with you the Muse I wooed;
But now great Rome consumes my solitude.
I toil in vain, no day is here my own,
Tossed like a mariner on the waves of Town,
While my suburban acres I maintain
And humble dwelling near Quirinus' fane.
But there are other ways to show regard
Than lounging at your levees, and a bard
Must never waste a moment; yet I swear,
Though I neglect them, you I hold most dear.
LIX
TO A DAINTY CRITIC
You like the shortest poems, not the best,
'Tis those you always read-and skip the rest;
I spread a varied banquet for your taste,
You take made dishes and the rest you waste.
And wrong your appetite, for truth to tell
A satisfying meal needs bread as well.
LX
ON M1 UNNA
MIUNNA has asked the right for children three,
Two boys he has-a schoolmaster is he.
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