Social Commentaries
Book III, Epigram 42 (Ker)
Translated by Walter C. A. Ker (1919–20) · From Epigrams (Loeb, 1919–20)
Social Commentaries
You try to conceal your wrinkles by the use of bean-meal, but you plaster your skin, Polla, not my lips. Let a blemish, which perhaps is small, simply show. The flaw which is hidden is deemed greater than it is.
This translation is printed as prose in its source edition.
Cite this poem
MLA
Martial. “Book III, Epigram 42 (Ker).” Translated by Walter C. A. Ker. Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/martial/582/.
Chicago
Martial. “Book III, Epigram 42 (Ker).” Translated by Walter C. A. Ker. Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/martial/582/.
Read this poem with the Codex →