The Reconciliation I

HE     When you were mine, in auld lang syne,     And when none else your charms might ogle,     I'll not deny, fair nymph, that I     Was happier than a heathen mogul.     SHE     Before she came, that rival flame     (Had ever mater saucier filia?),     In those good times, bepraised in rhymes,     I was more famed than Mother Ilia.     HE     Chloe of Thrace! With what a grace     Does she at song or harp employ her!     I'd gladly die, if only I     Could live forever to enjoy her!     SHE     My Sybaris so noble is     That, by the gods, I love him madly!     That I might save him from the grave,     I'd give my life, and give it gladly!     HE     What if ma belle from favor fell,     And I made up my mind to shake her;     Would Lydia then come back again,     And to her quondam love betake her?     SHE     My other beau should surely go,     And you alone should find me gracious;     For no one slings such odes and things     As does the lauriger Horatius!