In the choral ode which follows, a noble tribute is paid to the versatility of human genius, and to the dominion of man over the powers of nature,—true even then, and far truer now, in these fairy times of modern science, which have eclipsed all the wonders of the "New Atlantis."
"Many the things that strange and wondrous are,
None stranger and more wonderful than Man;
He dares to wander far,
With stormy blast across the hoary sea,
Where nought his eye can scan
But waves still surging round unceasingly;
And Earth, of all the gods
Mightiest, unwearied, indestructible,
He weareth year by year, and breaks her clods,
While the keen ploughshare marks her furrows well,
Still turning to and fro;
And still he bids his steeds
Through daily task-work go."—(P.)
Man extends his dominion over the fish of the sea, and the fowls of the air, and the beasts of the field. He has resources against all dangers, plans by which he overcomes all obstacles, inventions which can solve all difficulties—
"Armed at all points, unarmed he nought shall meet
That coming time reveals;
Only from Hades finds he no retreat,
Though many a hopeless sore disease he heals."—(P.)
Pride is the besetting sin of so gifted a being, and it is pride in the statesman which brings about his speedy
