Quintus Horatius Flaccus

“ To make you no man's victim, no man's jest."
Bid him go home and nurse himself, while you
Act as his counsel and his agent too;
Hold on unflinching, never bate a jot,
Be it for wet or dry, for cold or hot,
Though "Sirius split dumb statues up," or though
Fat Furius "spatter the bleak Alps with snow."
"What steady nerve!" some bystander will cry,
Nudging a friend; "what zeal! what energy!
What rare devotion!" ay, the game goes well;
In flow the tunnies, and your fish-ponds swell.
Another plan: suppose a man of wealth
Has but one son, and that in weakly health ”

“ And yet it craves for more, that heart of guile!
U. O source of truth unerring, you're aware,
I reach my home impoverished and stripped bare
(So you predict) , and find nor bit nor sup,
My flocks all slaughtered and my wines drunk up:
Yet family and worth, without the staff
Of wealth to lean on, are the veriest draff.
T. Since, in plain terms, 'tis poverty you fear,
And riches are your aim, attend and hear. ”