Martial, : the twelve books of Epigrams,.

MARTIAL'S EPIGRAMS

* LXXXVIII
A PICKER UP OF TRIFLES
BEFORE the sittings have begun
Friend Cotta into court will run,
And every judge's notice scan.
He is indeed a busy man!
LXXXIX
ON THE HERA OF POLYCLEITUS
How glorious the Hera who hath brought
To Polycleitus an undying fame,
The perfect loveliness his hand hath wrought
Phidias the master might have longed to claim.
On Ida's mount the shepherd, free of blame,
Had crowned her as the fairest ever seen;
Aye, she had set the heart of Zeus aflame
Had he not loved his sister and his Queen.
XC
QUID uellis uetulum, Ligeia, cunnum
Quid busti cineres tui lacessis?
Tales munditiae decent puellas
(Nam tu iam nec anus potes uideri);
Istud, crede mihi, Ligeia, belle
Non mater facit Hectoris, sed uxor.
Erras si tibi cunnus hic uidetur,
Ad quem mentula pertinere desit.
Quare si pudor est, Ligeia, noli
Barbam uellere mortuo leoni.
XCI
OMNES eunuchos habet Almo nec arrigit ipse:
Et queritur pariat quod sua Polla nihil.
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