HORACE <br /> <br />When you were mine in auld lang syne, <br /> And when none else your charms might ogle, <br /> I'll not deny, <br /> Fair nymph, that I <br /> Was happier than a Persian mogul. <br /> <br />LYDIA <br /> <br />Before she came--that rival flame!-- <br /> (Was ever female creature sillier?) <br /> In those good times, <br /> Bepraised in rhymes, <br /> I was more famed than Mother Ilia! <br /> <br />HORACE <br /> <br />Chloe of Thrace! With what a grace <br /> Does she at song or harp employ her! <br />I'd gladly die <br /> If only I <br /> Might live forever to enjoy her! <br /> <br />LYDIA <br /> <br />My Sybaris so noble is <br /> That, by the gods! I love him madly-- <br /> That I might save <br /> Him from the grave <br /> I'd give my life, and give it gladly! <br /> <br />HORACE <br /> <br />What if ma belle from favor fell, <br /> And I made up my mind to shake her, <br /> Would Lydia, then, <br /> Come back again <br /> And to her quondam flame betake her? <br /> <br />LYDIA <br /> <br />My other beau should surely go, <br /> And you alone should find me gracious; <br /> For no one slings <br /> Such odes and things <br /> As does the lauriger Horatius!<br /><br />Eugene Field<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/horace-and-lydia-reconciled/
