Classic Poem

I AM Latinus, darling of the stage,
The applause, the pride, the wonder of my age,
Who could have wooed stern Cato to the play,
And made Fabricius laugh his cares away.
Naught from the theatre did my morals take,
And only in a farce was I a rake.
Virtue you need our master's grace to win;
He is a god who sees the heart within.
" A parasite of Phoebus" — as you will:
But let Rome know I served her great Jove still.