Act III: Scene I. — Judas Maccabaeus in Armor Before His Tent
JUDAS.The trumpets sound; the echoes of the mountainsAnswer them, as the Sabbath morning breaksOver Beth-horon and its battle-field,Where the great captain of the hosts of God,A slave brought up in the brick-fields of Egypt,O'ercame the Amorites. There was no dayLike that, before or after it, nor shall be.The sun stood still; the hammers of the hailBeat on their harness; and the captains setTheir weary feet upon the necks of kings,As I will upon thine, Antiochus,Thou man of blood!--Behold the rising sunStrikes on the golden letters of my banner,Be Elohim Yehovah! Who is likeTo thee, O Lord, among the gods!--Alas!I am not Joshua, I cannot say,"Sun, stand thou still on Gibeon, and thou Moon,In Ajalon!" Nor am I one who wastesThe fateful time in useless lamentation;But one who bears his life upon his handTo lose it or to save it, as may bestServe the designs of Him who giveth life.
Words in this poem
- trumpets n.
- A plant (Sarracenia flava) with long, hollow leaves.
- 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,]
- elohim n.
- One of the principal names by which God is designated in the Hebrew Scriptures. [Heb.]
- fateful a.
- Having the power of serving or accomplishing fate.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Act III: Scene I. — Judas Maccabaeus in Armor Before His Tent 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 III: Scene I. — Judas Maccabaeus in Armor Before His Tent, in Judas Maccabaeus (1872), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1365, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/longfellow-judas-maccabaeus/act-iii-scene-i-judas-maccabaeus-in-armor-before-his-tent.html, id L19127.
Form and metre
Act III: Scene I. — Judas Maccabaeus in Armor Before His Tent is 23 lines in a single stanza.
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----B---BA------ judas · mountains · breaks · field · god · egypt · dayA · be · hail · set · kings · antiochusB · sun · banner · like · alasB · sayA · moon · wastes · lamentation · hand · best · life
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 |
|---|---|---|
| JUDAS. | 2 | /˘ |
| The trumpets sound; the echoes of the mountains | 11 | ·/˘··/˘··/˘ |
| Answer them, as the Sabbath morning breaks | 10 | /˘···/˘/˘· |
| Over Beth-horon and its battle-field, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Where the great captain of the hosts of God, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| A slave brought up in the brick-fields of Egypt, | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| O'ercame the Amorites. There was no day | 10 | ·········· |
| Like that, before or after it, nor shall be. | 11 | ··········· |
| The sun stood still; the hammers of the hail | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Beat on their harness; and the captains set | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Their weary feet upon the necks of kings, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| As I will upon thine, Antiochus, | 10 | ······˘/˘˘ |
| Thou man of blood!--Behold the rising sun | 10 | ····˘/·/˘· |
| Strikes on the golden letters of my banner, | 11 | ···/˘/˘··/˘ |
| Be Elohim Yehovah! Who is like | 10 | ·˘/˘······ |
| To thee, O Lord, among the gods!--Alas! | 10 | ········˘/ |
| I am not Joshua, I cannot say, | 10 | ···/˘˘·/˘· |
| "Sun, stand thou still on Gibeon, and thou Moon, | 10 | ·········· |
| In Ajalon!" Nor am I one who wastes | 10 | ·········· |
| The fateful time in useless lamentation; | 11 | ·/˘··/˘···· |
| But one who bears his life upon his hand | 10 | ·········· |
| To lose it or to save it, as may best | 10 | ·········· |
| Serve the designs of Him who giveth life. | 10 | ··˘/···/˘· |
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.