A LINE-O'-TYPE OR TWO

_Quicquid agunt homines nostri est farrago libelli._

--_Juvenal._

Question:

Who is this Juvenal wheezer?

Readers inquire every day.

Give us a line on the geezer--

What is he trying to say?

Do you expect us to get stuff

That is clear over our bean?

What is that "_Quicquid_, et cet." stuff?

What does the gibberish mean?

Reply:

If you're too lazy to look for

Juvenal's name in the Dic,

Why should _I_ go to the book for

Such a cantankerous kick?

Still, to avoid all dissension,

And my good nature to prove,

I am quite willing to mention

One or two things about Juve.

Juve was a Roman humdinger,

Writer of satires and sich.

He was consid'rable stinger--

Rare were his sallies and rich.

High his poetic position,

Lofty his manner and brow;

Lived in the time of Domitian;--

That's all I think of just now.

As for that "_Quicquid_, and so forth,"

I have but space to advise

If you'd decipher it go forth,

Look in the Dic and be wise.

Make it a point, in your reading,

Always to look up what's new.

That is a simple proceeding:

Why not adopt it? _I_ do.

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The So-called Human Race · 第 122 / 341 题