To attack the strong, to defend the weak. 
His fame in foreign climes is heard,
And a singular instance lately occurred. 
It occurred in the case of the Persian king,
Sifting and cross-examining
The Spartan envoys.  He demanded
Which of the rival States commanded
The Grecian seas?  He asked them next
(Wishing to see them more perplexed)
Which of the two contending powers
Was chiefly abused by this bard of ours? 
For he said, “Such a bold, so profound an adviser
By dint of abuse would render them wiser,
More active and able; and briefly that they
Must finally prosper and carry the day.” 
Now mark the Lacedaemonian guile! 
Demanding an insignificant isle! 
“AEgina,” they say, “for a pledge of peace,
As a means to make all jealousy cease.” 
Meanwhile their privy design and plan
Is solely to gain this marvelous man—­
Knowing his influence on your fate—­
By obtaining a hold on his estate
Situate in the isle aforesaid. 
Therefore there needs to be no more said. 
You know their intention, and know that you know it: 
You’ll keep to your island, and stick to the poet. 
And he for his part
Will practice his art
With a patriot heart,
With the honest views
That he now pursues,
And fair buffoonery and abuse: 
Not rashly bespattering, or basely beflattering,
Not pimping, or puffing, or acting the ruffian;
Not sneaking or fawning;
But openly scorning
All menace and warning,
All bribes and suborning: 
He will do his endeavor on your behalf;
He will teach you to think, he will teach you to laugh. 
So Cleon again and again may try;
I value him not, nor fear him, I! 
His rage and rhetoric I defy. 
His impudence, his politics,
His dirty designs, his rascally tricks,
No stain of abuse on me shall fix. 
Justice and right, in his despite,
Shall aid and attend me, and do me right: 
With these to friend, I ne’er will bend,
Nor descend
To a humble tone
(Like his own),
As a sneaking loon,
A knavish, slavish, poor poltroon.

THE APPEAL OF THE CHORUS

From ‘The Knights’:  Frere’s Translation.

If A veteran author had wished to engage
Our assistance to-day, for a speech from the stage,
We scarce should have granted so bold a request: 
But this author of ours, as the bravest and best,
Deserves an indulgence denied to the rest,
For the courage and vigor, the scorn and the hate,
With which he encounters the pests of the State;
A thoroughbred seaman, intrepid and warm,
Steering outright, in the face of the storm.

     But now for the gentle reproaches he bore
     On the part of his friends, for refraining before
     To embrace the profession, embarking for life
     In theatrical storms and poetical strife.