Poetry Explorer


Classic and Contemporary Poetry


LAY OF ANCIENT ROME by THOMAS RUSSELL YBARRA

First Line: OH, THE ROMAN WAS A ROGUE
Last Line: FROM US OF ANNO DOMINI.
Subject(s): ROMAN EMPIRE;

OH, the Roman was a rogue,
He erat was, you bettum;
He ran his automobilus
And smoked his cigarettum.
He wore a diamond studibus
And elegant cravattum,
A maxima cum laude shirt
And such a stylish hattum!

He loved the luscious hic-haec-hoc,
And bet on games and equi;
At times he won at others though,
He got it in the nequi;
He winked, (quo usque tandem?) at
Puellas on the Forum,
And sometimes, too, he even made
Those goo-goo oculorum!

He frequently was seen
At combats gladiatorial
And ate enough to feed
Ten boarders at Memorial;
He often went on sprees
And said, on starting homus,
"Hic labour -- opus est,
Oh, where's my hic -- hic -- domus?"

Although he lived in Rome, --
Of all the arts the middle --
He was, (excuse the phrase,)
A horrid individ'l;
Ah, what a different thing
Was the homo (dative, hominy)
Of far away B. C.
From us of Anno Domini.



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