Poetry Explorer


Classic and Contemporary Poetry


EPODES: 4. AGAINST CASSIUS SEVERUS, A REVILEFUL AND WANTON POET by QUINTUS HORATIUS FLACCUS

First Line: THOU VILLAGE-CUR! WHY DOST THOU BARK AT ME?
Last Line: PUT FINGER IN MINE EYE AND CRY?
Subject(s): POETRY & POETS;

THOU village-cur! why dost thou bark at me?
A wolf might come, and go, for thee.
At me thou open'st wide, and think'st that I
Will bark with thee for company.
I'm of another kind, and bravely dare
(Like th' mastiff) watch my flock with care:
Dare hunt through snow, and seize that savage beast
That might my darling folds molest:
Thou (only in the noise thou mak'st) robust
Leav'st off the chase; leap'st at a crust,
But have a care! for if I vent my spleen,
I (for a shift) can make thee grin:
I'll make thee (if iambics once I sing)
To die, like Bupalus, in a string.
When any man insults o'er me, shall I
Put finger in mine eye and cry?



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