The living thought, the life like light, In all the noble will and high All hopes and fears and cares to him That with the universe would be, And far aspires, o'er earth and sky, For Him whom who has ever known?- The Spirit that is All and One. Fast unequal footsteps fall As he strides from wall to wall, With the tread of Catiline, And the folded arms like thine, There is a volume broadly spread "Thou art not pass'd away: thy might Is there, eternal Stagyrite!" And there is fiery Homer's page- And his father's sword is there, At the bayonet firm and true On the deadly Waterloo. Long he stood, with steadfast look "That time is past when first the truth (2) - ȧyyápov-See Blomfield's annotation, and Peile's. To think that men should see me so, Far more than ever me may try : And now I know That I must onward look, to see At last I learn a nobler thought, That life is vain, and make it so. I have a thought, a thought like fire, An element that will aspire, A vivid thought of Truth; and I In it will live or with it die. I know, I know-have I not known ?Those thoughts that others think their own; And tir'd of this eternal thrall, 3 Of patience and of hope, and all; (3) "Fluch sen der Hoffnung! Fluch dem Glauben, Und Fluch vor allen der Geduld!" Goethe, Faust. And scorn'd whate'er is won or sought, But if the truth be bitter lore, Then I at least would strive the more. Should make more cause to bear me high: Yet striving still, yet striving more; (4) Διαφερόντως γὰρ δὴ καὶ τόδε ἔχομεν ὥστε τολμᾶν τε οἱ αὐτοὶ μάλιστα καὶ περὶ ὧν ἐπιχειρήσομεν ἐκλογίζεσθαι· ὁ τοῖς ἄλλοις ἀμαθία μὲν θράσος, λογισμὸς δὲ ὄκνον φέρει. Κράτιστοι δ ̓ ἂν τὴν ψυχὴν δικαίως κριθεῖεν οἱ τά τε δεινὰ, καὶ ἡδέα σαφέστατα γιγνώσκοντες καὶ διὰ ταῦτα μὴ ἀποτρεπόμενοι ἐκ τῶν κινδύνων.—Thucyd. ii, 40; Goell. Lond. 1835; and note, vol. I, p. 193. ὅ τε γὰρ πάντα φεύγων καὶ φοβούμενος καὶ μηδὲν ὑπομένων δειλὸς γίνεται, ὅ τε μηδὲν ὅλως φοβούμενος ἀλλὰ πρὸς πάντα βαδίζων θρασύς...... Ομοίως δὲ καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς ἀνδρείας· ἐθιζόμενοι γὰρ καταφρονεῖν τῶν φοβερῶν καὶ ὑπομένειν αὐτὰ γινόμεθα ἀνδρεῖοι,—Arist. 'H0. Nek. II, ii, 7, 9; Opera, Bekk. Ox. 1837. “Sedit qui timuit ne non succederet: esto: Quid? qui pervenit, fecitne viriliter? Atqui All calm, though thus to bear for ever, In this the sense, the spirit strong, In one aspiring thought of pride; Hic est, aut nusquam, quod quærimus: hic onus horret, Ut parvis animis et parvo corpore majus; Hic subit et perfert. Aut virtus nomen inane est, Hor. Epist. I. xvii. 37. "Aristote dict que les cueux de plomb se fondent, et coulent de froid, et de la rigueur de l'hyver, comme d'un chaleur vehemente. Le desir et la satieté remplissent de douleur les sieges au-dessus et au-dessoubs de la volupté. La bestisse et la sagesse se rencontrent en mesme poinct de sentiment et de resolution à la souffrance des accidents humains: les sages gourmandent et commandent le mal, et les aultres l'ignorent: ceulx-cy sont, par maniere de dire, au-deçà des accidents, les aultres au-delà: lesquels apres en avoir bien poisé et consideré les qualitez, les avoir mesurer et juger tels qu'ils sont, s'eslancent au-dessus, par la force d'un vigoureux couraige : ils les desdaignent et foulent aux pieds, ayant une ame forte et solide,"-Montaigne, Essais, II. iv, Des vaines subtiltés; vol. II. p. 10; Paris, 1796. |