Giovanni Battista Casti

1724-1803 / Italy

Sonnet I

Let others sing his pious deeds and bold—
And wars Eneas did in Latium wage,
Whence empire and the city rose, of old,
That to the World gave laws in after age:
The feats of mighty Kings let these unfold;
A pleasing face, or beauty, those engage;
Far other tales must by the Muse be told:
Nor dreadful Mars nor Love employs her page.
This is the subject matter of my lay
Chbtsophilus one time Three Groats me lent,
And for them ask'd me a hundred times a day:
He kept on asking, and I would not pay:
And this importunate Dun 'tis my intent
Herein in various fashion to display.
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