Act I: Scene II. — Antiochus; Jason; the Samaritan Ambassadors
ANTIOCHUS.Approach. Come forward; stand not at the doorWagging your long beards, but demean yourselvesAs doth become Ambassadors. What seek ye?
An audience from the King.
ANTIOCHUS.Speak, and be brief.Waste not the time in useless rhetoric.Words are not things.
AMBASSADOR (reading). "To King Antiochus,The God, Epiphanes; a MemorialFrom the Sidonians, who live at Sichem."
ANTIOCHUS.Sidonians?
AMBASSADOR.Ay, my Lord.
ANTIOCHUS.Go on, go on!And do not tire thyself and me with bowing!
AMBASSADOR (reading)."We are a colony of Medes and Persians."
ANTIOCHUS.No, ye are Jews from one of the Ten Tribes;Whether Sidonians or SamaritansOr Jews of Jewry, matters not to me;Ye are all Israelites, ye are all Jews.When the Jews prosper, ye claim kindred with them;When the Jews suffer, ye are Medes and Persians:I know that in the days of AlexanderYe claimed exemption from the annual tributeIn the Sabbatic Year, because, ye said,Your fields had not been planted in that year.
AMBASSADOR (reading)."Our fathers, upon certain frequent plagues,And following an ancient superstition,Were long accustomed to observe that dayWhich by the Israelites is called the Sabbath,And in a temple on Mount GerizimWithout a name, they offered sacrifice.Now we, who are Sidonians, beseech thee,Who art our benefactor and our savior,Not to confound us with these wicked Jews,But to give royal order and injunctionTo Apollonius in Samaria.Thy governor, and likewise to Nicanor,Thy procurator, no more to molest us;And let our nameless temple now be namedThe Temple of Jupiter Hellenius."
ANTIOCHUS.This shall be done. Full well it pleaseth meYe are not Jews, or are no longer Jews,But Greeks; if not by birth, yet Greeks by custom.Your nameless temple shall receive the nameOf Jupiter Hellenius. Ye may go!
Words in this poem
- demean n.
- Management; treatment. [OF. demene. See Demean, v. t.]
- jewry n.
- Judea; also, a district inhabited by Jews; a Jews' quarter. [OE. Jewerie, OF. Juierie, F. Juiverie.]
- prosper v. t.
- To favor; to render successful. [F. prospérer v. i., or L. prosperare, v. i., or L. prosperare, v. t., fr. prosper or prosperus. See Prosperous.]
- procurator n.
- One who manages another's affairs, either generally or in a special matter; an agent; a proctor. Chaucer. [L.: cf. F. procurateur. See Procure, and cf. Proctor.]
- molest v. t.
- To trouble; to disturb; to render uneasy; to interfere with; to vex. [F. molester, L. molestare, fr. molestus troublesome, fr. moles a heavy mass, load, burden. See 3d Mole.]
- nameless a.
- Without a name; not having been given a name; as, a nameless star.
- 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,]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Act I: Scene II. — Antiochus; Jason; the Samaritan Ambassadors 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 II. — Antiochus; Jason; the Samaritan Ambassadors, in Judas Maccabaeus (1872), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1365, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/longfellow-judas-maccabaeus/act-i-scene-ii-antiochus-jason-the-samaritan-ambassadors.html, id L19123.
Form and metre
Act I: Scene II. — Antiochus; Jason; the Samaritan Ambassadors is 54 lines in 11 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.
- 11 ---AA- antiochus · me · jews · customA · nameA · go
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 | ˘/˘˘ |
| Approach. Come forward; stand not at the door | 10 | ˘/·/˘····· |
| Wagging your long beards, but demean yourselves | 10 | /˘····˘/˘/ |
| As doth become Ambassadors. What seek ye? | 10 | ··˘/˘/˘··· |
| An audience from the King. | 7 | ·/˘˘··· |
| ANTIOCHUS. | 4 | ˘/˘˘ |
| Speak, and be brief. | 4 | ···· |
| Waste not the time in useless rhetoric. | 10 | ·····/˘/˘˘ |
| Words are not things. | 4 | ···· |
| AMBASSADOR (reading). "To King Antiochus, | 11 | ˘/˘/˘··˘/˘˘ |
| The God, Epiphanes; a Memorial | 10 | ······˘/˘˘ |
| From the Sidonians, who live at Sichem." | 10 | ·········· |
| ANTIOCHUS. | 4 | ˘/˘˘ |
| Sidonians? | 3 | ··· |
| AMBASSADOR. | 4 | ˘/˘˘ |
| Ay, my Lord. | 3 | ··· |
| ANTIOCHUS. | 4 | ˘/˘˘ |
| Go on, go on! | 4 | ···· |
| And do not tire thyself and me with bowing! | 11 | ···/˘/···/˘ |
| AMBASSADOR (reading). | 6 | ˘/˘˘/˘ |
| "We are a colony of Medes and Persians." | 11 | ···/˘˘···/˘ |
| ANTIOCHUS. | 4 | ˘/˘˘ |
| No, ye are Jews from one of the Ten Tribes; | 10 | ·········· |
| Whether Sidonians or Samaritans | 10 | ······˘/˘˘ |
| Or Jews of Jewry, matters not to me; | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| Ye are all Israelites, ye are all Jews. | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| When the Jews prosper, ye claim kindred with them; | 11 | ···/˘··/˘·· |
| When the Jews suffer, ye are Medes and Persians: | 11 | ···/˘····/˘ |
| I know that in the days of Alexander | 11 | ········˘/˘ |
| Ye claimed exemption from the annual tribute | 11 | ··˘/˘··/˘/˘ |
| In the Sabbatic Year, because, ye said, | 10 | ·········· |
| Your fields had not been planted in that year. | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| AMBASSADOR (reading). | 6 | ˘/˘˘/˘ |
| "Our fathers, upon certain frequent plagues, | 10 | //˘··/˘/˘· |
| And following an ancient superstition, | 11 | ·/˘˘·/˘·˘/˘ |
| Were long accustomed to observe that day | 10 | ··˘/˘·˘/·· |
| Which by the Israelites is called the Sabbath, | 11 | ···/˘····/˘ |
| And in a temple on Mount Gerizim | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Without a name, they offered sacrifice. | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| Now we, who are Sidonians, beseech thee, | 10 | ·······˘/· |
| Who art our benefactor and our savior, | 11 | ··//˘·˘·//˘ |
| Not to confound us with these wicked Jews, | 10 | ··˘/···/˘· |
| But to give royal order and injunction | 11 | ···/˘/˘·˘/˘ |
| To Apollonius in Samaria. | 10 | ·······˘/˘ |
| Thy governor, and likewise to Nicanor, | 10 | ·/˘·/····· |
| Thy procurator, no more to molest us; | 10 | ·/˘˘···˘/· |
| And let our nameless temple now be named | 10 | ··//˘/˘··· |
| The Temple of Jupiter Hellenius." | 10 | ·/˘·/˘˘··· |
| ANTIOCHUS. | 4 | ˘/˘˘ |
| This shall be done. Full well it pleaseth me | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Ye are not Jews, or are no longer Jews, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| But Greeks; if not by birth, yet Greeks by custom. | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| Your nameless temple shall receive the name | 10 | ·/˘/˘·˘/·· |
| Of Jupiter Hellenius. Ye may go! | 10 | ·/˘˘······ |
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