The World’s Wit and Humor: An Encyclopedia in 15 Volumes. 1906.
Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (17291781)Epigrams
Y
Vain, haughty, insolent, and loud;
Games, drinks, and in the full career
Of vice compares with any peer;
Seduces daughters, wives, and mothers;
Spends his own cash, and that of others;
Pays like a lord—that is to say,
He never condescends to pay,
But bangs his creditor in requital.
And yet this blockhead wears a title.
What a villainous odor invades all our noses!
It can’t be his body alone—in the hole
They have certainly buried the usurer’s soul.
A reptile conceal’d bit his leg as he lay;
But all venom himself, of the wound he made light,
And got well, while the scorpion died of the bite.
One scarcely can tell if you’re laughing or crying;
Were you fix’d on one’s funeral sermon to preach,
The bare apprehension would keep one from dying.
But still she calls you “Doctor,” not “Papa.”
One thing is clear: your conscientious rib
Has not yet taught the pretty dear to fib.
You should march with your mouth, and devour with your feet.
To fight again another day.”
The meaning of his speech is plain,
He only fled to fly again.
“True, but she’s also dumb, good sir.”