EPIGRAM.
TO DOMITIAN, CONCERNING S. JOHN, COMMANDED TO BE CAST INTO A CALDRON OF BURNING OIL.

Thou go unpunish'd? That shall never be,
 Since thou hast dar'd to mock the gods and me.
 Burn him in oil!—The lictor oil prepares:
 Behold the saint anointed unawares!
 With such elusive virtue was the oil fraught!
 Such aid thy olive-loving Pallas brought![198]
—Crashaw.

FOOTNOTES:

[198] The allusion is to wrestlers anointing themselves to prevent their adversaries grasping them.