EPIGRAMS,

ANCIENT AND MODERN.

'Omne epigramma sit instar apis, sit aculeus illi,

Sint sua mella, sit et corporis exigui.'

F. C. KISSENPFENNING (1656).

'Three things must epigrams, like bees, have all: A sting and honey, and a body small.'

RILEY.

"The qualities rare in a bee that we meet,
In an epigram never should fail:

The body should always be little and sweet,
And a sting should be left in its tail.'

'An epigram should be, if right,

Short, simple, pointed, keen, and bright,

A lively little thing:

Like wasp with taper body-bound

By lines-not many-neat and round,

All ending in a sting.'

ANCIENT AND MODERN:

HUMOROUS, WITTY, SATIRICAL, MORAL, AND PANEGYRICAL.