ACT THIRD. THE JESTERS
189
(No she-dragons they)
Make them cuckolds
See Democritus
Turned lugubrious;
Kings without crowns;
Heraclituses
Full of fantasies,
And thinking clowns.
Halberd and sword
For cogent arguments;
Fond lovers' sentiments
By philters cured;
Wolves and asses grey,
And gleaming snakes;
Whores and harlots gay
And courtly rakes.
Wives adored,
And headsmen affable;
Nuns not intractable
And ill-secured
Leaders armyless,
And priests defiant;
Titans who pygmies are,
Dwarfs who are giants!
Such is the age
In which we live,
And save the plagues
Nought doth survive.
From bad to worse
The realm doth course.
Our great Cæsars
Are but lizards;
Our dear Cyclops
All are myopes;
