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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

IF THE AUTHOR OF 'IN AMERICAN' HAD SPENT HIS VACATION WITH HORACE ON, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Who was the guy I seen you with to-day?
Last Line: Say, ask me!


I

Quis multa gracilis -- Odes, I, 5

Who was the guy I seen you with to-day?
Oh, yes, I did, you might as well crash through.
I bet he had perfum'ry on him -- say,
I know that kind, I'll tell the world I do.

Well, let him suffer . . . if he likes your line,
And it's some line, I got to grant you that,
I'll never tell him diff'rent; I got mine.
Wait till he hears you sayin': "Here's your hat."

I guess I'm lucky, for I might have took
You serious, with your blue-eyed baby stares.
Now I'll be thankful every time I look
And see those other dumbbells getting theirs.

II

Vitas hinnuleo me similis, Chloe -- Odes, I, 23

Chloe, you got me wrong, I ain't
One of these goofs that treats 'em rough,
That likes to see 'em scream and faint --
Where do you get that stuff?

Say, you won't always want to sit
Around the house like some old hen.
Some day you'll want to step a bit --
How about me for then?

III

Vixi puellis nuper idoneus -- Odes, III, 26

It ain't sour grapes with me, I could of had
Most any jane, when I was steppin' out.
I slung a nasty hoof . . . but say, that stuff
Don't get a man nowhere, I'll say it don't.
I dressed the part, but that's all over now,
All that swell scenery parking space for moths.
It ain't sour grapes, but if a certain dame
Should sprain her ankle, would I cry? . . .
Say, ask me!





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