English

You know my name, " The little feasting hall"?
Take roses, unguents, wine, and feast withal;
But gaze with me at Caesar's dome which saith,
" A God was I — and died! Forget not death."

Your glossy clothes are superfine,
You mock my old ones and abhor them;
At least, if threadbare, they're mine own,
I didn't cheat the tailor for them.

Just watch the fellow yonder stroll along!
The costliest of clothes he loves to wear,
And after him there comes a motley throng
Of clients spruce and slaves with curly hair.
His chair is gay and decked with curtains fair;
Say you the smartest dandy in the town?
Just now to buy a meal of plainest fare
He pawned his only ring for half-a-crown.

I OFFERED love — you ask for awe;
Then I'll obey you and revere;
But don't forget the ancient saw
That love will never dwell with fear.

You would be free, but cannot? that's a lie;
'Tis easy, there's a simple plan to try.
Cease hunting for choice dinners everywhere,
And be content to drink vin ordinaire;
Let gold inlay on Cinna's table shine,
Nor envy him; and wear a coat like mine,
Waste not your substance on a courtesan;
Lodge simply — 'tis enough for any man.
Rule thus your mind to love but simple things
And you'll be freer than the Parthian Kings.

R UFUS , my simple tastes demand
But modest things to smooth my path,
Good wine and food, a barber and
A bath,
Chessmen, a board on which to play,
A friend whose tastes and mine agree,
Some books but leaving the choosing pray
To me.

A young and well-grown serving lad,
One maid if comely would not hurt,
'Twould keep him busy if he had
A flirt.
Ah, friend, if you would give me these,
Though in a small provincial home,
I'd leave you all the luxuries

If Hunks should see me buy a coat,
A slave, or something worth a groat,
He shudders at my spendthrift whim,
And lest I beg a loan of him —
Though I have known him many a year —
He whispers so that I may hear: —
" Four thousand Sesterces are due
To Phoebus, and Secundus too
Is pressing for his debt, 'tis seven;
Philetus duns me for eleven:
I've not a farthing left to spend."
How clever, my ingenious friend!
Were I to ask, refusing me
Would wound your generosity;
It needs must be a harder task

" LAUGH , maiden, laugh, if thou be wise," —
Aye, that methinks was Ovid's rede;
And yet not all doth he advise;
But if he spake to all indeed
The poet's saw thou can'st not plead
Who long are past thy maidenhood,
And hast, for teeth to serve thy need;
Three stumps the hue of pitch or wood.

So if thou trust thy glass and me,
Put thoughts of laughter out of mind;
The merry mood is not for thee,
Nor for the fops a blustering wind.
These shun the jostling of their kind,

A GUE they say! I know what his complaint is,
A case of greed suppressed and thirst unsated:
Exhibit thrushes fat and other dainties;
Red mullets too and pike are indicated;
With fine old port his thirst should be abated,
And rare liqueurs stored in their slender bottles —
The faculty have all miscalculated
Hydropathy won't cure such fevered throttles.

You took a woman off the street,
You gave her dresses rich and rare,
And yet the penitential sheet
She might with greater fitness wear.