Page:Phormio (Morgan 1894).djvu/23

In that you savv another play of late
Unwitting Oedipus's crimes and fate,
Those vvere the deeds of heroes, tragic themes
For which subHmity well fitted seems,
The practised art of actors, fine array
And setting, with the fame of rare display.
Our aim is lower. Mortal men are we,
And so content the mimickers to be
Of human joys and griefs; the gods may care
For their own matters, men are our affair.
Yet pray these lowly things do not disown,
They touch us nearer being better known,
The woes of Hecuba we've long outgrown.—
Epidicazomenos was the Grecian name,
In Latin, though, it Phormio became;
Because the ' star,' a parasite, is one
Named Phormio, by whom the most is done.
Do you, adopting Terence' famous line,
' I am a man; all that is man's is mine,'
Regard our novel efifort with good will,
That generous arts may thrive among us still.