A LESSON IN LATIN
Reading edition
(From “The Jabberwock,”[20] June, 1888)
Our Latin books, in motley row, Invite us to the task— Gay Horace, stately Cicero; Yet there’s one verb, when once we know, No higher skill we ask: This ranks all other lore above— We’ve learned “amare” means “to love”! So hour by hour, from flower to flower, We sip the sweets of life: Till ah! too soon the clouds arise, And knitted brows and angry eyes Proclaim the dawn of strife. With half a smile and half a sigh, “Amare! Bitter One!” we cry. Last night we owned, with looks forlorn, “Too well the scholar knows There is no rose without a thorn”— But peace is made! we sing this morn, “No thorn without a rose!” Our Latin lesson is complete: We’ve learned that Love is “Bitter-sweet”!