The Commentary of Hierocles upon the Golden Verses of Pythagoras

So shall thy abler mind be taught to soar,
And wisdom in her secret ways explore;
To range through heaven above and earth below,
Immortal gods and mortal men to know.
So shalt thou learn what power does all control,
What bounds the parts, and what unites the whole:
And rightly judge, in all this wondrous frame,
How universal nature is the same;
So shalt thou ne'er thy vain affections place
On hopes of what shall never come to pass.
Man, wretched man! thou shalt be taught to know,
Who bears within himself the inborn cause of woe.
Unhappy race! that never yet could tell,
How near their good and happiness they dwell.
Depriv'd of sense, they neither hear nor see;
Fetter'd in vice, they seek not to be free,
But stupid, to their own sad fate agree;
Like pond'rous rolling-stones oppress'd with ill,
The weight that loads them makes them roll on
Bereft of choice and freedom of the will. [still,
For native strife in ev'ry bosom reigns,
And secretly an impious war maintains:
Provoke not this, but let the combat cease,
And ev'ry yielding passion sue for peace.
Wouldst thou, great Jove, thou father of man-
Reveal the Demon In this context, the daemon a divine spirit or guardian entity assigned to a person. for that task assign'd,
The wretched race an end of woes would find.
And yet be bold, O man! divine thou art,
And of the gods celestial essence part.