Martial, : the twelve books of Epigrams,.

BOOK THREE
VII
FREE DINNERS
FAREWELL thou paltry dole, no more
The parboiled bath-man at the door
Hands out the toil-worn client's due.
Poor starvelings, what a blow to you!
The bounty given in Nero's day
Is gone! I know that ye will say,
'We'll fence no more; our cry shall be
"Fixed salaries and dinners free! " '
VIII
IN THE COUNTRY OF THE BLIND
'TIS one-eyed Thais sets his love aglow;
She is half-blind-and he entirely so.
IX
ON CINNA
HE publishes lampoons on me, 'tis said;
How can he publish who is never read?
* X
THE SPENDTHRIFT
YOUNG Scatterbag's father while he was alive
To him one pound per diem did pay;
For he knew that a daily supply he must give,
Or the spendthrift would fling all away.
But now in his will he has put down his name
As heir to the total estate'Twere better for him, and would come to the same,
To have been disinherited straight.
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