Nothing was of a piece in the whole man: Sometimes he like a frightened coward ran, Whose foes are at his heels; now soft and slow He moved, like folks who in procession go. Now with two hundred slaves he crowds his train; Now walks with ten. In high and haughty strain, At morn, of kings and governors he prates; At night, "A frugal table, O ye Fates, A little shell the sacred salt to hold, And clothes, though coarse, to keep from me the cold." Yet give this wight, so frugally content, A thousand pounds, 'tis every penny spent Within the week! He drank the night away Till rising dawn, then snored out all the day. Sure, such a various creature ne'er was known. But have you, sir, no vices of your own? ON JUDGING FRIENDS A kindly friend, who balances my good And bad together, as in truth he should, If haply my good qualities prevail, Inclines indulgent to the sinking scale: For like indulgence let his friendship plead, His merits be with equal measure weighed; For he who hopes his wen shall not offend Should overlook the pimples of his friend. ON LOYALTY TO ABSENT FRIENDS He who, malignant, tears an absent friend, Or fails, when others blame him, to defend, Who trivial bursts of laughter strives to raise And courts for witty cynicism praise, Who can, what he has never seen, reveal, And friendship's secrets knows not to conceal-- Romans beware--that man is black of soul. HORACE'S DEBT TO HIS FATHER If some few trivial faults deform my soul (Like a fair face, when spotted with a mole), If none with avarice justly brand my fame, With sordidness, or deeds too vile to name; If pure and innocent; if dear (forgive These little praises) to my friends I live, My father was the cause, who, though maintained By a lean farm but poorly, yet disdained The country schoolmaster, to whose low care The mighty captain sent his high-born heir, With satchel, copy-book, and pelf to pay The wretched teacher on the appointed day. To Rome by this bold father was I brought, To learn those arts which well-born youths are taught, So dressed, and so attended, you would swear I was some wealthy lord's expensive heir. Himself my guardian, of unblemished truth, Among my tutors would attend my youth, And thus preserved my chastity of mind-- That prime of virtue in its highest kind. HORACE'S HABITS IN THE CITY