 | Three Hundred Sonnets |  |
52
ARISTIDES.
Severe in simple virtue, nobly poor,The guard alike and glory of all Greece
Through fierce invading war, and factious peace,
Model for youth, the temperate and pure,
Exemplar for old age, the just and good,
Athenian Aristides meekly stood
A thankless people's boast: thee—country's love
Warm'd with its holiest flame; thee—party spite
From hearth and home to bitter exile drove,
Envied for greatness: still, the patriot fight
Against the Mede beheld thee in the van
Doubly a victor, at the self-same hour
Crushing the foreign despot's giant power,
And conquering in thyself the pride of man.
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