Odes of Horace, Book 5/Ode 3

by Charles Larcom Graves

III

HOW unhappy (though unmarried) is an uncle who, bereft
Of the solace of the wine-cup, is continually left
 At the mercy of an energetic niece.
Neobule is unfailing in attendance at the Games,
 Imperturbably regardless of the Muses or their claims
 And relentless in denying me release.
Her equipment is amphibious: she can swim a mile or more;
Her appearance in the saddle I both envy and adore;
She's the super-Atalanta of the young.
She declines to ply her needle, and she never reads a book,
But she withers me completely with a single scorching look,
And she cows me with the lashing of her tongue.

C. L. Graves.