English poem
Epigram On Hearing Mr. **** Boast That He Could Translate Virgil
by Thomas Oldham (1816–1878)
Thou able, boaster! Virgil to translate! Can'st thou, then, be so vain, so shallow-pated? To a far higher intellectual state, Coxcomb! thou must, thyself, be first translated. * * * * * A lady had a sickly son; A skeleton but for his skin:— Her pretty maid he woo'd, and won;— The mother chid him for his sin.— 'Her charms were not to be withstood, Too tempting for frail flesh and blood! As you, dear Ma'am, must fairly own.' "That's no excuse for skin and bone."
More by Thomas Oldham
- Epigram On Dr. ****, A Mere Pretender To Medical Science, Officiously Offering Me His Services
- Epigram On Hearing A Clergyman Preach A Dull Sermon In A Loud, Shrill Voice
- Epigram On Hearing A Lady Talk Very Fast And Unintelligibly
- Epigram On Hearing A Parson Read Very Badly A Sermon He Had Bought
- Epigram On Hearing Of The Burning Of Moscow
- Epigram On Seeing Mr. Nutes, A Senseless, Unfeeling Fellow, Weep At The Representation Of King Lear
- Epigram On The Conduct Of Some Few Clergymen, Who Are A Disgrace To Their Sacred Profession
- Epigram On The Late Reform And The Whig Administration