The epigrams of the Greek Anthology are characterized more by náiveté than point. They are for the most part insipid.
Longinus calls pompous and inflated thoughts, “reveries of Jupiter”—insomnia Jovis.
A French writer of celebrity dedicated a book to Richelieu in terms of the most blasphemous flattery. But being disappointed in his expectations, he suppressed all his praises in a second edition, and re-dedicated his volume “á Jesus Christ.”
The following inscription intended for the Louvre, possesses both simplicity and dignity:
Pande fores populis, sublimis Lupara: non est
Terrarum imperio dignior ulla domus.
Under a fine painting of St. Bruno in solitude, some Italian wrote these words, “Egli è vivo, e parlerebbe se non osservasse la rigola del silentio.” Malherbe has taken the hint in his epigram upon a picture of Saint Catherine.