 | Songs at the Start |  |
62
CHARONDAS.
He lifted his forehead, and stood at his height,
And gathered the cloak round his noble age,
This man, the law-giver, Charondas the Greek;
And loud the Eubœans called to him: “Speak,
We listen and learn, O sage!”
And gathered the cloak round his noble age,
This man, the law-giver, Charondas the Greek;
And loud the Eubœans called to him: “Speak,
We listen and learn, O sage!”
“In peace shall ye come where the people be,”
Spake the lofty figure with flashing eyes:
“But whoso comes armed to the public hall
Shall suffer his death before us all.”
And the hearers believed him wise.
Spake the lofty figure with flashing eyes:
“But whoso comes armed to the public hall
Shall suffer his death before us all.”
And the hearers believed him wise.
The years sped quick and the years dragged slow;
In council oft was the throng arrayed,
But never the statued chamber saw
The gleam of a weapon; for loving the law,
The Greeks from their hearts obeyed.
In council oft was the throng arrayed,
63
The gleam of a weapon; for loving the law,
The Greeks from their hearts obeyed.
War's challenge knocked at the city gates;
Students flocked to the front, grown bold;
The strong men, girded, faced up to the north;
The women wept to the gods; and forth
Went the brave of the days of old.
Students flocked to the front, grown bold;
The strong men, girded, faced up to the north;
The women wept to the gods; and forth
Went the brave of the days of old.
Peace winged her flight to the city gates;
Young men and strong, they followed fast
Back to the breast of their fair, free land:
Charondas, afar on the foreign strand,
Remained at his post the last.
Young men and strong, they followed fast
Back to the breast of their fair, free land:
Charondas, afar on the foreign strand,
Remained at his post the last.
Their leader he, in war as in word,
The fire of youth for his life-long lease,
The strength of Mars in the arm that stood
Seven hot decades upheld for good
In the turbulent courts of Greece.
The fire of youth for his life-long lease,
The strength of Mars in the arm that stood
Seven hot decades upheld for good
In the turbulent courts of Greece.
64
The fight is finished, the council meets.
Who is the tardy comer without
In cuirass and shield, and with clanking sword,
Who strides up the aisles without a word,
Rousing that awe-struck shout?
Who is the tardy comer without
In cuirass and shield, and with clanking sword,
Who strides up the aisles without a word,
Rousing that awe-struck shout?
The tardy comer home from the field—
Great gods! the first to forget and belie
The law he honored, the law he formed:
“Charondas—stand! you enter armed,”
With a shudder the hundreds cry.
Great gods! the first to forget and belie
The law he honored, the law he formed:
“Charondas—stand! you enter armed,”
With a shudder the hundreds cry.
The men who loved him on every side,
The men he led to the victor's gain,
He paused a moment, the fearless Greek;
A sudden glow on his ashen cheek,
A sudden thought in his brain.
The men he led to the victor's gain,
He paused a moment, the fearless Greek;
A sudden glow on his ashen cheek,
A sudden thought in his brain.
“I seal the law with my soul and might:
I do not break it,” Charondas said.
He raised his blade, and plunged to the hilt.
Ah! vain their rush, for in glory and guilt,
He lay on the marble, dead.
I do not break it,” Charondas said.
He raised his blade, and plunged to the hilt.
Ah! vain their rush, for in glory and guilt,
He lay on the marble, dead.
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