THE RHODIAN 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, Polycles, 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. 



