Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

EPIGRAM: ON CHEAP PURCHASING by MARCUS VALERIUS MARTIALIS

First Line: SEE HERE!' CRIES BASSUS, IN A BRAND-NEW COAT
Last Line: "OF BUYING MIGHTY CHEAP -- WHO NEVER PAYS!"
Subject(s): SAVING AND THRIFT;
"SEE here!" cries Bassus, in a brandnew coat,
Worth, at the least, a fifty-dollar note;
"I got it at a bargain. Please to guess
How much it cost. A hundred? Vastly less!
There's not one man in twenty who can buy
A coat or hat one half so cheap as I."
"That's true," quoth Tom; "his surely is the praise
Of buying mighty cheap -- who never pays!"



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