Martial, : the twelve books of Epigrams,.

BOOK TEN
LXI
EROTION'S GRAVE
HERE sleeps the body of the little maid,
Erotion,
Ere her sixth winter fate had called her shade
To hasten on;
Whoe'er thou art who after me shall own
This tiny plot,
Lay year by year the dues upon her stone;
Forget her not.
So shall thy house endure nor suffering know,
And this remain
The only sign and monument of woe
On thy domain.
* LXII
TO.4A SCHOOL.1MA4STER
GOOD schoolmaster, pray give your classes a rest.
If you do, I will ask that next term you be pressed
By curly-haired boys flocking close to your table,
And no short-hand clerk or quick counter be able
To boast that he has a more studious crew
Of pupils and fonder of teacher than you.
The hot sunny days are upon us again,
And blazing July burns the ripening grain,
So let your grim rod and your whip, put to sleep,
Till the Ides of October a holiday keep.
In summer if children can only stay well,
They learn quite enough and can rest for a spell.
LXIII
ON A MATRON'S GRAVE
GREAT is mine honour, tho' my tomb be small;
No marble pile, no pyramid you see.
Twice I beheld Tarentum's festival,
And lived a long life through from sorrow free;
Five sons, five daughters, Juno granted me,
And all survived to hear my latest breath.
High glory seldom won I gained-for he
I loved was mine, I his alone till death.
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