Let your poem be kept nine years.
Misfortunes, untoward events, lay open, disclose the skill of a general, while success conceals his weakness, his weak points.
That I make poetry and give pleasure - if I give pleasure - are because of you.
We rarely find anyone who can say he has lived a happy life, and who, content with his life, can retire from the world like a satisfied guest.
It makes a great difference whether Davus or a hero speaks.
The question is yet before the court.