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Home  »  library  »  poem  »  The Cobbler’s Last

C.D. Warner, et al., comp. The Library of the World’s Best Literature.
An Anthology in Thirty Volumes. 1917.

The Cobbler’s Last

By Martial (c. 40–c. 104 A.D.)

PREDESTINED for patching and soling,

For fragrance of grease, wax, and thread,

You find yourself squire by cajoling,

When with pigs you should hobnob instead;

And midst your lord’s vertu you’re rolling,

With liquor and love in your head!

How foolish to send me to college,

To soak up unpractical views!

How slow is the progress of knowledge

By the march of your three-dollar shoes!