="Instans Tyrannus"=, the threatening tyrant. The phrase is from
Horace's _Odes_, Book III., iii., as is probably the idea of the
poem. Gladstone translates the passage:--
"The just man in his purpose strong,
No madding crowd can turn to wrong.
The forceful tyrant's brow and word
. . . . . . .
His firm-set spirit cannot move."
There is novelty of conception in giving the situation from the
tyrant's point of view. Compare also the seventh Ode of Horace in Book
II.