The dragon's lair

A personal collection of verse

Cecco Angiolieri


The bitter hatred that I bear today
Toward my father, very rightly too,
Will cause him to survive the Wandering Jew,*
As I begin to learn to my dismay.
Nature, take note, see if you’re just or not:
I asked him for a flask of common wine
(He’s got a hundred barrels, the old swine!);
He very nearly killed me on the spot.
“I should have named Vernaccia smooth and mellow,”
Said I, to test how far his rage would go;
You won’t believe the way he spat and swore.
And then I’m told I shouldn’t hate the fellow!
But those who know one half of what I know
Would say: “The scoundrel should be eaten raw.”