On the very day on winch he drank the hemlock to die, Socrates made a pathetic confession that he had found no talent m poetry in himself after all When young he followed the studies of the physical world, afterwards, however, the rational streak in his character prevented him from being content with it, compelling him at last to turn to philosophy In contrast with him, Plato was of admirable poetic talent and also well educated in poetry It was when he was about fifteen years of age that he came to know Socrates through his relatives and friends At that time, however, he seems not to have displayed any strong characteristics But when he was about twenty, he experienced a radical change in character, and became discontent with being a poet he began to seek to observe life not with a literary eye but with theoretical contemplation This means that Plato, who had preferred what he used to call "mania" (poetic intuition) to reason, was determined to stress the latter instead of the former, the poetic trend in his character Once he had made this decision, he could no longer regard Socrates merely as a teacher related with him in a formal way, but felt compelled to rely on Socrates in every phase of his contemplative life Socrates seemed to him a symbol of reason he acquired encouragement from him The personal presence of Socrates was all that was necessary to him at that time his philosophy was nothing but this sense of the presence of Socrates Thus, after his death, Socrates was always present in Plato's contemplative activity, appearing in conversation with his friends and opponents, and this eventually makes Plato's Dialogues Plato enlarged and revised the words of Socrates in conversation But, by this enlargement and revision, Plato means that, as is seen in the Phaidros, the trees of Socrates' words planted on the soil of Plato's soul grow to bear fruits, which in their turn develop new buds In other words, Plato tries to express himself only through Socrates He believes his words are really Socrates', who is always present within himself In this way he tried solely to be faithful to the Socrates in his recollection, and it is this that kept him pursuing the hard way of philosophical thinking We must look at his Dialogues from this point of view Plato's Dialogues will thus be seen under quite a new light
