Charles Lamb wrote thus to Dorothy Wordsworth in 1820:--"The story of Dion is divine--the genius of Plato falling on him like moonlight--the finest thing ever expressed." (_The Letters of Charles Lamb_, edited by Alfred Ainger, vol. ii. p. 56.) I am indebted to the Headmaster of Fettes College, the Rev. W. A. Heard, for the following notes on the poem, with special reference to Plutarch. They reveal, as Mr. Heard remarks, "Wordsworth's method of work upon the authors he had read and studied, and show upon what a solid structure of fact he always wrote." It will be observed that he invariably appended to the title of this poem "(See Plutarch)." "When Dion, the pupil of Plato, became the autocrat of Syracuse, it seemed as if the moment had come for the rule of a philosopher. But the gardens of the Academy knew nothing of the methods by which alone intrigue could be met and unscrupulousness baffled. The murder of Heracleides became a political necessity; but when this was conceded, the charm was once and for ever broken--the career was done. Plutarch's biography deals mainly with the external conditions, and is overlaid with so much historical detail that the personality of Dion stands out in insufficient relief. Wordsworth gives us a study of the internal struggle, showing us the failure of an ideal, not in its external aspect, but as closing the aspirations, and desolating the conscience, of a truly noble mind. He accepts Plutarch's general conception of the life, incorporating much of the details and adopting some of the language, but over and above the fresh emphasis he gives to critical moments, the imaginative insight with which all the detail is treated makes the poem an original presentation. _... a swan-like grace Of haughtiness without pretence._ ὑψηλὸς τῷ ἤθει καὶ μεγαλόφρων.--'He was lofty in his disposition and large-minded.' Again, Plutarch speaks of the "σεμνότης"--the 'still magnificence' of his nature, coupled with "τὸ γενναῖον καὶ ἁπλότης," nobility and simplicity. _Softening their inbred dignity austere._ βουλομένου τοῦ Πλάτωνος ὁμιλίᾳ χάριν ἐχούσῃ καὶ παιδιᾶς ἐμμελοῦς κατὰ καιρὸν ἁπτομένῃ κεραννύμενον ἀφηδύνεσθαι τοῦ Δίωνος τὸ ἦθος. Plato tried to soften the harshness of his disposition by the delights of intercourse, and the grace of seasonable wit. _That he, not too elate With self-sufficing solitude._ This refers to a warning of Plato, ἡ αὐθάδεια ἐρημίᾳ σύνοικος--Arrogance is the house-mate of solitude. _Each crowned with flowers ..._ καὶ θεασάμενοι τὸν Δίωνα διὰ τὴν θυσίαν ἐστεφανωμένον οἱ παρόντες ἀπὸ μιᾶς ὁρμῆς ἐστεφανοῦντο πάντες.--And seeing Dion wearing a garland on account of the sacrifice, those that were present with one impulse put on garlands one and all. _Or ruder weapon which their course might yield._ ὡπλισμένοι δὲ φαύλως ἐκ τοῦ προστυχόντος.--Poorly armed, as chance enabled them. _Who leads them on? ..._