Act I: Scene I. — Antiochus; Jason
ANTIOCHUS.O Antioch, my Antioch, my city!Queen of the East! my solace, my delight!The dowry of my sister CleopatraWhen she was wed to Ptolemy, and nowWon back and made more wonderful by me!I love thee, and I long to be once moreAmong the players and the dancing womenWithin thy gates, and bathe in the Orontes,Thy river and mine. O Jason, my High-Priest,For I have made thee so, and thou art mine,Hast thou seen Antioch the Beautiful?
JASON.Never, my Lord.
ANTIOCHUS.Then hast thou never seenThe wonder of the world. This city of DavidCompared with Antioch is but a village,And its inhabitants compared with GreeksAre mannerless boors.
JASON.They are barbarians,And mannerless.
ANTIOCHUS.They must be civilized.They must be made to have more gods than one;And goddesses besides.
JASON.They shall have more.
ANTIOCHUS.They must have hippodromes, and games, and baths,Stage-plays and festivals, and most of allThe Dionysia.
JASON.They shall have them all.
ANTIOCHUS.By Heracles! but I should like to seeThese Hebrews crowned with ivy, and arrayedIn skins of fawns, with drums and flutes and thyrsi,Revel and riot through the solemn streetsOf their old town. Ha, ha! It makes me merryOnly to think of it!--Thou dost not laugh.
JASON.Yea, I laugh inwardly.
ANTIOCHUS.The new Greek leavenWorks slowly in this Israelitish dough!Have I not sacked the Temple, and on the altarSet up the statue of Olympian ZeusTo Hellenize it?
JASON.Thou hast done all this.
ANTIOCHUS.As thou wast Joshua once and now art Jason,And from a Hebrew hast become a Greek,So shall this Hebrew nation be translated,Their very natures and their names be changed,And all be Hellenized.
JASON.It shall be done.
ANTIOCHUS.Their manners and their laws and way of livingShall all be Greek. They shall unlearn their language,And learn the lovely speech of Antioch.Where hast thou been to-day? Thou comest late.
JASON.Playing at discus with the other priestsIn the Gymnasium.
ANTIOCHUS.Thou hast done well.There's nothing better for you lazy priestsThan discus-playing with the common people.Now tell me, Jason, what these Hebrews call meWhen they converse together at their games.
JASON.Antiochus Epiphanes, my Lord;Antiochus the Illustrious.
ANTIOCHUS.O, not that;That is the public cry; I mean the nameThey give me when they talk among themselves,And think that no one listens; what is that?
JASON.Antiochus Epimanes, my Lord!
ANTIOCHUS.Antiochus the Mad! Ay, that is it.And who hath said it? Who hath set in motionThat sorry jest?
JASON.The Seven Sons insaneOf a weird woman, like themselves insane.
ANTIOCHUS.I like their courage, but it shall not save them.They shall be made to eat the flesh of swine,Or they shall die. Where are they?
JASON.In the dungeonsBeneath this tower.
ANTIOCHUS.There let them stay and starve,Till I am ready to make Greeks of them,After my fashion.
JASON.They shall stay and starve.--My Lord, the Ambassadors of SamariaAwait thy pleasure.
ANTIOCHUS.Why not my displeasure?Ambassadors are tedious. They are menWho work for their own ends, and not for mineThere is no furtherance in them. Let them goTo Apollonius, my governorThere in Samaria, and not trouble me.What do they want?
JASON.Only the royal sanctionTo give a name unto a nameless templeUpon Mount Gerizim.
ANTIOCHUS.Then bid them enter.This pleases me, and furthers my designs.The occasion is auspicious. Bid them enter.
Words in this poem
- solace n.
- Comfort in grief; alleviation of grief or anxiety; also, that which relieves in distress; that which cheers or consoles; relief. [OF. solas, ssoulaz, L. solacium, solatium, fr. solari to comfort, console. Cf. Console, v. t.]
- dowry n.
- A gift; endowment. [Contr. from dowery; cf. LL. dotarium. See Dower.]
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- israelitish a.
- Of or pertaining to Israel, or to the Israelites; Jewish; Hebrew.
- hellenize v. i.
- To use the Greek language; to play the Greek; to Grecize.
- wast
- The second person singular of the verb be, in the indicative mood, imperfect tense; -- now used only in solemn or poetical style.
- unlearn v. t.
- To forget, as what has been learned; to lose from memory; also, to learn the contrary of. [1st pref. un- + learn.]
- gymnasium n.
- A place or building where athletic exercises are performed; a school for gymnastics.
- jest n.
- A deed; an action; a gest. [OE. jeste, geste, deed, action, story, tale, OF. geste, LL. gesta, orig., exploits, neut. pl. from L. gestus, p. p. of gerere to bear, carry, accomplish, perfor]
- await v. t.
- To watch for; to look out for. [OF. awaitier, agaitier; (L. ad) + waitier, gaitier to watch, F. guetter. See Wait.]
- furtherance n.
- The act of furthering or helping forward; promotion; advancement; progress.
- nameless a.
- Without a name; not having been given a name; as, a nameless star.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Act I: Scene I. — Antiochus; Jason is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Complete Poetical Works of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Project Gutenberg ebook #1365; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Act I: Scene I. — Antiochus; Jason, in Judas Maccabaeus (1872), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1365, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/longfellow-judas-maccabaeus/act-i-scene-i-antiochus-jason.html, id L19122.
Form and metre
Act I: Scene I. — Antiochus; Jason is 122 lines in 29 stanzas.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 -------A--A- antiochus · city · delight · cleopatra · now · me · more · womenA · orontes · priest · mineA · beautiful
- 11 A---A- antiochusA · leaven · dough · altar · zeusA · it
- 14 AA jasonA · doneA
- 17 -A-A-- antiochus · wellA · priests · peopleA · me · games
- 19 -A--A antiochus · thatA · name · themselves · thatA
- 22 AAA jasonA · insaneA · insaneA
- 29 -A-A antiochus · enterA · designs · enterA
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| ANTIOCHUS. | 4 | ˘/˘˘ |
| O Antioch, my Antioch, my city! | 11 | ·/˘··/˘··/˘ |
| Queen of the East! my solace, my delight! | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| The dowry of my sister Cleopatra | 11 | ·/˘··/˘·˘/˘ |
| When she was wed to Ptolemy, and now | 10 | ·····/˘˘·· |
| Won back and made more wonderful by me! | 10 | ·····/˘˘·· |
| I love thee, and I long to be once more | 10 | ·········· |
| Among the players and the dancing women | 11 | ···/˘··/˘/˘ |
| Within thy gates, and bathe in the Orontes, | 10 | ·········· |
| Thy river and mine. O Jason, my High-Priest, | 11 | ·/˘···/˘··· |
| For I have made thee so, and thou art mine, | 10 | ·········· |
| Hast thou seen Antioch the Beautiful? | 10 | ···/˘··/˘˘ |
| JASON. | 2 | /˘ |
| Never, my Lord. | 4 | /˘·· |
| ANTIOCHUS. | 4 | ˘/˘˘ |
| Then hast thou never seen | 6 | ···/˘· |
| The wonder of the world. This city of David | 12 | ·/˘····/˘·/˘ |
| Compared with Antioch is but a village, | 11 | ˘/·/˘····/˘ |
| And its inhabitants compared with Greeks | 10 | ··˘/˘˘˘/·· |
| Are mannerless boors. | 5 | ····· |
| JASON. | 2 | /˘ |
| They are barbarians, | 6 | ··˘/˘˘ |
| And mannerless. | 4 | ···· |
| ANTIOCHUS. | 4 | ˘/˘˘ |
| They must be civilized. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| They must be made to have more gods than one; | 10 | ·········· |
| And goddesses besides. | 6 | ·/˘˘˘/ |
| JASON. | 2 | /˘ |
| They shall have more. | 4 | ···· |
| ANTIOCHUS. | 4 | ˘/˘˘ |
| They must have hippodromes, and games, and baths, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Stage-plays and festivals, and most of all | 10 | ···/˘˘···· |
| The Dionysia. | 4 | ···· |
| JASON. | 2 | /˘ |
| They shall have them all. | 5 | ····· |
| ANTIOCHUS. | 4 | ˘/˘˘ |
| By Heracles! but I should like to see | 9 | ········· |
| These Hebrews crowned with ivy, and arrayed | 10 | ·/˘··/˘·˘/ |
| In skins of fawns, with drums and flutes and thyrsi, | 11 | ··········· |
| Revel and riot through the solemn streets | 10 | /˘·/˘··/˘· |
| Of their old town. Ha, ha! It makes me merry | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| Only to think of it!--Thou dost not laugh. | 10 | /˘········ |
| JASON. | 2 | /˘ |
| Yea, I laugh inwardly. | 6 | ···/˘˘ |
| ANTIOCHUS. | 4 | ˘/˘˘ |
| The new Greek leaven | 5 | ···/˘ |
| Works slowly in this Israelitish dough! | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Have I not sacked the Temple, and on the altar | 12 | ·····/˘···/˘ |
| Set up the statue of Olympian Zeus | 10 | ···/··˘/˘· |
| To Hellenize it? | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| JASON. | 2 | /˘ |
| Thou hast done all this. | 5 | ····· |
| ANTIOCHUS. | 4 | ˘/˘˘ |
| As thou wast Joshua once and now art Jason, | 11 | ···/˘····/˘ |
| And from a Hebrew hast become a Greek, | 10 | ···/˘·˘/·· |
| So shall this Hebrew nation be translated, | 11 | ···/˘/˘·˘/˘ |
| Their very natures and their names be changed, | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| And all be Hellenized. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| JASON. | 2 | /˘ |
| It shall be done. | 4 | ···· |
| ANTIOCHUS. | 4 | ˘/˘˘ |
| Their manners and their laws and way of living | 11 | ·/˘······/˘ |
| Shall all be Greek. They shall unlearn their language, | 11 | ······˘/·/˘ |
| And learn the lovely speech of Antioch. | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Where hast thou been to-day? Thou comest late. | 10 | ·········· |
| JASON. | 2 | /˘ |
| Playing at discus with the other priests | 10 | /˘·/˘··/˘· |
| In the Gymnasium. | 6 | ··˘/˘˘ |
| ANTIOCHUS. | 4 | ˘/˘˘ |
| Thou hast done well. | 4 | ···· |
| There's nothing better for you lazy priests | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| Than discus-playing with the common people. | 11 | ·/˘/˘··/˘/˘ |
| Now tell me, Jason, what these Hebrews call me | 11 | ···/˘··/˘·· |
| When they converse together at their games. | 10 | ··˘/˘/˘··· |
| JASON. | 2 | /˘ |
| Antiochus Epiphanes, my Lord; | 9 | ˘/˘˘····· |
| Antiochus the Illustrious. | 9 | ˘/˘˘·˘/˘˘ |
| ANTIOCHUS. | 4 | ˘/˘˘ |
| O, not that; | 3 | ··· |
| That is the public cry; I mean the name | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| They give me when they talk among themselves, | 10 | ········˘/ |
| And think that no one listens; what is that? | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| JASON. | 2 | /˘ |
| Antiochus Epimanes, my Lord! | 9 | ˘/˘˘····· |
| ANTIOCHUS. | 4 | ˘/˘˘ |
| Antiochus the Mad! Ay, that is it. | 10 | ˘/˘˘······ |
| And who hath said it? Who hath set in motion | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| That sorry jest? | 4 | ·/˘· |
| JASON. | 2 | /˘ |
| The Seven Sons insane | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| Of a weird woman, like themselves insane. | 10 | ···/˘·˘/˘/ |
| ANTIOCHUS. | 4 | ˘/˘˘ |
| I like their courage, but it shall not save them. | 11 | ···/˘······ |
| They shall be made to eat the flesh of swine, | 10 | ·········· |
| Or they shall die. Where are they? | 7 | ······· |
| JASON. | 2 | /˘ |
| In the dungeons | 4 | ··/˘ |
| Beneath this tower. | 5 | ···/˘ |
| ANTIOCHUS. | 4 | ˘/˘˘ |
| There let them stay and starve, | 6 | ······ |
| Till I am ready to make Greeks of them, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| After my fashion. | 5 | ···/˘ |
| JASON. | 2 | /˘ |
| They shall stay and starve.-- | 5 | ····· |
| My Lord, the Ambassadors of Samaria | 11 | ···˘/˘··˘/˘ |
| Await thy pleasure. | 5 | ˘/·/˘ |
| ANTIOCHUS. | 4 | ˘/˘˘ |
| Why not my displeasure? | 6 | ···˘/˘ |
| Ambassadors are tedious. They are men | 10 | ˘/˘˘·/˘··· |
| Who work for their own ends, and not for mine | 10 | ·········· |
| There is no furtherance in them. Let them go | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| To Apollonius, my governor | 9 | ······/˘˘ |
| There in Samaria, and not trouble me. | 11 | ···˘/˘··/˘· |
| What do they want? | 4 | ···· |
| JASON. | 2 | /˘ |
| Only the royal sanction | 7 | /˘·/˘/˘ |
| To give a name unto a nameless temple | 11 | ·······/˘/˘ |
| Upon Mount Gerizim. | 6 | ······ |
| ANTIOCHUS. | 4 | ˘/˘˘ |
| Then bid them enter. | 5 | ···/˘ |
| This pleases me, and furthers my designs. | 10 | ·/˘··/˘·˘/ |
| The occasion is auspicious. Bid them enter. | 12 | ·˘/˘·˘/˘··/˘ |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.