The World’s Wit and Humor: An Encyclopedia in 15 Volumes. 1906.
Eugene Field (18501895)The Truth about Horace
I
To hear the solemn prating
Of the fossils who are stating
That old Horace was a prude;
When we know that with the ladies
He was always raising Hades,
And with many an escapade his
Best productions are imbued.
Large number of his carmina,
But these people find alarm in a
Few records of his acts;
So they’d squelch the music caloric,
And to students sophomoric
They’d present as metaphoric
What old Horace meant for facts.
Now we adjudge ’em crazy!
Why, Horace was a daisy
That was very much alive!
And the wisest of us know him
As his Lydia verses show him—
Go read that virile poem—
It is No. 25.
He was a very owl, sir,
And starting out to prowl, sir,
You bet he made Rome howl, sir,
Until he filled his date;
With a massic-laden ditty,
And a classic maiden pretty,
He painted up the city,
And Mæcenas paid the freight!