Act III: Scene IV. — Judas Maccabaeus; Captains and Soldiers
JUDAS.The hour is come. Gather the host togetherFor battle. Lo, with trumpets and with songsThe army of Nicanor comes against us.Go forth to meet them, praying in your hearts,And fighting with your hands.
CAPTAINS.Look forth and see!The morning sun is shining on their shieldsOf gold and brass; the mountains glisten with them,And shine like lamps. And we who are so fewAnd poorly armed, and ready to faint with fasting,How shall we fight against this multitude?
JUDAS.The victory of a battle standeth notIn multitudes, but in the strength that comethFrom heaven above. The Lord forbid that IShould do this thing, and flee away from them.Nay, if our hour be come, then let us die;Let us not stain our honor.
CAPTAINS.'T is the Sabbath.Wilt thou fight on the Sabbath, Maccabaeus?
JUDAS.Ay; when I fight the battles of the Lord,I fight them on his day, as on all others.Have ye forgotten certain fugitivesThat fled once to these hills, and hid themselvesIn caves? How their pursuers camped against themUpon the Seventh Day, and challenged them?And how they answered not, nor cast a stone,Nor stopped the places where they lay concealed,But meekly perished with their wives and children,Even to the number of a thousand souls?We who are fighting for our laws and livesWill not so perish.
CAPTAINS.Lead us to the battle!
JUDAS.And let our watchword be, "The Help of God!"Last night I dreamed a dream; and in my visionBeheld Onias, our High-Priest of old,Who holding up his hands prayed for the Jews.This done, in the like manner there appearedAn old man, and exceeding glorious,With hoary hair, and of a wonderfulAnd excellent majesty. And Onias said:"This is a lover of the Jews, who prayethMuch for the people and the Holy City,--God's prophet Jeremias." And the prophetHeld forth his right hand and gave unto meA sword of gold; and giving it he said:"Take thou this holy sword, a gift from God,And with it thou shalt wound thine adversaries."
CAPTAINS.The Lord is with us!
JUDAS.Hark! I hear the trumpetsSound from Beth-horon; from the battle-fieldOf Joshua, where he smote the Amorites,Smote the Five Kings of Eglon and of Jarmuth,Of Hebron, Lachish, and Jerusalem,As we to-day will smite Nicanor's hostsAnd leave a memory of great deeds behind us.
CAPTAINS and SOLDIERS.The Help of God!
JUDAS.Be Elohim Yehovah!Lord, thou didst send thine Angel in the timeOf Esekias, King of Israel,And in the armies of SennacheribDidst slay a hundred fourscore and five thousand.Wherefore, O Lord of heaven, now also sendBefore us a good angel for a fear,And through the might of thy right arm let thoseBe stricken with terror that have come this dayAgainst thy holy people to blaspheme!
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,]
- meekly adv.
- In a meek manner.
- glorious a.
- Exhibiting attributes, qualities, or acts that are worthy of or receive glory; noble; praiseworthy; excellent; splendid; illustrious; inspiring admiration; as, glorious deeds. [OF. glorios, glorious, F. glorieux, fr. L. gloriosus. See Glory, n.]
- hoary a.
- White or whitish."The hoary willows."
- shalt
- 2d per. sing. of Shall.
- elohim n.
- One of the principal names by which God is designated in the Hebrew Scriptures. [Heb.]
- didst
- , the 2d pers. sing. imp. of Do.
- fourscore a.
- Four times twenty; eighty. [Four + core, n.]
- wherefore adv.
- For which reason; so; -- used relatively. [Where + for.]
- stricken p. p.
- Struck; smitten; wounded; as, the stricken deer.
- blaspheme v. t.
- To speak of, or address, with impious irreverence; to revile impiously (anything sacred); as, to blaspheme the Holy Spirit. [OE. blasfem, L. blasphemare, fr. Gr. : cf. F. blasphémer. See Blame, v.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Act III: Scene IV. — Judas Maccabaeus; Captains and Soldiers 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 IV. — Judas Maccabaeus; Captains and Soldiers, in Judas Maccabaeus (1872), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1365, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/longfellow-judas-maccabaeus/act-iii-scene-iv-judas-maccabaeus-captains-and-soldiers.html, id L19130.
Form and metre
Act III: Scene IV. — Judas Maccabaeus; Captains and Soldiers is 77 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.
- 1 A--A-- judasA · together · songs · usA · hearts · hands
- 3 ---A-A- judas · not · cometh · iA · them · dieA · honor
- 5 -----AAB-B--- judas · lord · others · fugitives · themselves · themA · themA · stoneB · concealed · childrenB · souls · lives · perish
- 7 -A------B----BA- judas · godA · vision · old · jews · appeared · glorious · wonderful · saidB · prayeth · city · prophet · me · saidB · godA · adversaries
- 11 -----AA---- judas · yehovah · time · israel · sennacherib · thousandA · sendA · fear · those · day · blaspheme
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 hour is come. Gather the host together | 11 | ·/··/˘··˘/˘ |
| For battle. Lo, with trumpets and with songs | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| The army of Nicanor comes against us. | 11 | ·/˘········ |
| Go forth to meet them, praying in your hearts, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| And fighting with your hands. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| CAPTAINS. | 2 | /˘ |
| Look forth and see! | 4 | ···· |
| The morning sun is shining on their shields | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Of gold and brass; the mountains glisten with them, | 11 | ·····/˘/˘·· |
| And shine like lamps. And we who are so few | 10 | ·········· |
| And poorly armed, and ready to faint with fasting, | 12 | ·/˘··/˘···/˘ |
| How shall we fight against this multitude? | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| JUDAS. | 2 | /˘ |
| The victory of a battle standeth not | 10 | ·/˘··/˘/˘· |
| In multitudes, but in the strength that cometh | 11 | ·/˘······/˘ |
| From heaven above. The Lord forbid that I | 10 | ·/····˘/·· |
| Should do this thing, and flee away from them. | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| Nay, if our hour be come, then let us die; | 10 | ··//······ |
| Let us not stain our honor. | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| CAPTAINS. | 2 | /˘ |
| 'T is the Sabbath. | 5 | ···/˘ |
| Wilt thou fight on the Sabbath, Maccabaeus? | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| JUDAS. | 2 | /˘ |
| Ay; when I fight the battles of the Lord, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| I fight them on his day, as on all others. | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| Have ye forgotten certain fugitives | 10 | ··˘/˘/˘/˘˘ |
| That fled once to these hills, and hid themselves | 10 | ········˘/ |
| In caves? How their pursuers camped against them | 11 | ····˘/˘···· |
| Upon the Seventh Day, and challenged them? | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| And how they answered not, nor cast a stone, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Nor stopped the places where they lay concealed, | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| But meekly perished with their wives and children, | 11 | ·/˘/˘····/˘ |
| Even to the number of a thousand souls? | 10 | /··/˘··/˘· |
| We who are fighting for our laws and lives | 10 | ···/˘·/··· |
| Will not so perish. | 5 | ···/˘ |
| CAPTAINS. | 2 | /˘ |
| Lead us to the battle! | 6 | ····/˘ |
| JUDAS. | 2 | /˘ |
| And let our watchword be, "The Help of God!" | 10 | ··//······ |
| Last night I dreamed a dream; and in my vision | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| Beheld Onias, our High-Priest of old, | 10 | ˘/··/˘···· |
| Who holding up his hands prayed for the Jews. | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| This done, in the like manner there appeared | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| An old man, and exceeding glorious, | 10 | ····˘/˘/˘˘ |
| With hoary hair, and of a wonderful | 10 | ·/˘····/˘˘ |
| And excellent majesty. And Onias said: | 10 | ·/˘/˘˘···· |
| "This is a lover of the Jews, who prayeth | 11 | ···/˘····/˘ |
| Much for the people and the Holy City,-- | 11 | ···/˘··/˘/˘ |
| God's prophet Jeremias." And the prophet | 11 | ·/˘˘/˘˘··/˘ |
| Held forth his right hand and gave unto me | 10 | ·········· |
| A sword of gold; and giving it he said: | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| "Take thou this holy sword, a gift from God, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| And with it thou shalt wound thine adversaries." | 11 | ·······/˘·˘ |
| CAPTAINS. | 2 | /˘ |
| The Lord is with us! | 5 | ····· |
| JUDAS. | 2 | /˘ |
| Hark! I hear the trumpets | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Sound from Beth-horon; from the battle-field | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Of Joshua, where he smote the Amorites, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Smote the Five Kings of Eglon and of Jarmuth, | 11 | ··········· |
| Of Hebron, Lachish, and Jerusalem, | 10 | ·/˘···˘/˘˘ |
| As we to-day will smite Nicanor's hosts | 10 | ·········· |
| And leave a memory of great deeds behind us. | 11 | ···/˘······ |
| CAPTAINS and SOLDIERS. | 5 | /˘·/˘ |
| The Help of God! | 4 | ···· |
| JUDAS. | 2 | /˘ |
| Be Elohim Yehovah! | 7 | ·˘/˘··· |
| Lord, thou didst send thine Angel in the time | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Of Esekias, King of Israel, | 9 | ······/˘˘ |
| And in the armies of Sennacherib | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Didst slay a hundred fourscore and five thousand. | 11 | ···/˘/˘··/˘ |
| Wherefore, O Lord of heaven, now also send | 10 | /˘···/·/˘· |
| Before us a good angel for a fear, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| And through the might of thy right arm let those | 10 | ·········· |
| Be stricken with terror that have come this day | 11 | ·/˘·/˘····· |
| Against thy holy people to blaspheme! | 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.