Thomas Noon Talfourd

“ Stand forth, Agenor!
Agen. I await thy will.
Ion. To thee I look as to the wisest friend
Of this afflicted people thou must leave
Awhile the quiet which thy life hath earn'd,
To rule our councils ; fill the seats of justice
With good men not so absolute in goodness,
As to forget what human frailty is;
And order my sad country.
Agen. Pardon me --
Ion. ”

“ How power will change him.
[They stand aside.]
The Procession, Enter U. E. R. MEDON, AGENOR, PHO- CION, TIMOCLES, CLEON, Sages and People ION last in royal robes. He advances amidst shouts.
Ion. I thank you for your greeting Shout no more,
But in deep silence raise your hearts to Heaven,
That it may strengthen one so young and frail
As I am, for the business of this hour.
Must I sit here?
Medon. Permit thy earliest friend,
Who has so often propp'd thy tottering step
To lead thee to thy throne, and thus fulfill
His fondest vision.
Ion. Thou art still most kind
Medon. ”

“ Of nymph-like loveliness, which finest chords
Of sympathy pervading shall suffuse
In times of quiet with one bloom, and fill
With one resistless impulse, if the hosts
Of foreign power should threaten. ”

“ When thou thyself wert eager to foretell
His manhood's glory from his childish virtues
Let me not think thee one of those fond prophets,
Who are well pleased still to foretell success,
So it remain their dream. ”

“ Let the great interests of the state depend
Upon the thousand chances that may sway
A piece of human frailty! Swear to me
That ye will seek hereafter in yourselves
The means of sovereign rule: our narrow space,
So happy in its confines, so compact,
Needs not the magic of a single name
Which wider regions may require to draw
Their interests into one; ”