THE RHODIAX GENIUS. 385 



is to them a day of nuptials. — Thus dead matter, animated 

 by vital force, passes through a countless series of races, and 

 perchance enshrines in the very substance in which of old 

 a miserable worm enjoyed its brief existence, the divine spirit 

 of Pythagoras.* 



"Go, Folycles, and tell the Tyrant what thou hast heard! 

 And ye, my beloved, Euryphamos, Lysis, and Scopas, come 

 nearer — and yet nearer to me ! I feel that the faint vital 

 force within me can no longer retain in subjection the earthly- 

 matter, which now reclaims its freedom. Lead me once more 

 to the Poecile, and thence to the wide sea-shore. Soon will 

 ye collect my ashes." 



* The very same idea is expressed in Schiller's Walk under the 

 Linden Trees. — Ed. 



2 c 



