Act II: Scene I and II
JOSABET.That is enough, my daughters, cease your chanting:Tis time to mingle in the public prayers.Our hour is come; Let us go celebrateThis glorious day, and, in our turn, appearBefore the Lord. What do I see! my son!What is the cause that hastens your return?Where run you thus, all pale and out of breath?
ZACHARIAH.O, my mother!
JOSABET.Well! what!
ZACHARIAH.The temple is profaned!
JOSABET.How?--
ZACHARIAH.And by the Lord the temple is abandoned.
JOSABET.I tremble; hasten to enlighten me.
ZACHARIAH.My sire, the high priest, having offered up,According to the law, the sacred breadOf the new harvest, to the God that fostersMankind, appearing still with gory handsFresh from the reeking entrails of the victim;Close to his side the young EliacinAssisting, like myself, in linen vests;The priests, meanwhile, with sacrificial bloodBesprinkling the assembly and the altar;A murmur indistinct arose; at onceThe astonished people turn aside their glance,--A woman--can I name her and not curse?--A woman--It was Athaliah's self!
JOSABET.Heavens!
ZACHARIAH.In one of the church courts, reserved for men,This haughty woman enters, with proud mien,And even prepares to overpass the boundsOf the enclosure sacred, which aloneIs open to the Levites. TerrifiedThe people fled in every way. My father--Ah! what resentment kindled in his eye!Moses to Pharoah seemed less formidable:Queen! go! said he, and quit this awful place,From which thy sex and vices banish thee:Dost thou come here to brave the majestyOf the Eternal God? At which the queen,Casting on him infuriated glance,Her mouth was opening, doubtless, to blaspheme:I know not if the angel of the HeavensAppearing showed to her a flaming sword;But instantly her tongue and lips were frozen,And all her over-boldness was abashed;As if her eyes were awe-struck, they were fixed;And, above all, Eliacin appearedTo amaze her.
JOSABET.What! Has Eliacin been seen by her?
ZACHARIAH.We both of us beheld that cruel queen,Who with an equal horror struck our hearts:But very soon the priests surrounded us--They caused us to withdraw. Of all the restI'm ignorant, and I returned to tellYou of this woeful uproar.
JOSABET.She came, no doubt, to tear him from our arms;Her fury came to seek him at the altar!Perhaps, the object of so many tearsIs at this moment--God, who seest my grief,Do Thou remember David!
SALOMITH.What is the reason of your flooding tears?
ZACHARIAH.Ah! Is Eliacin's life in danger?
SALOMITH.Has he attracted Athaliah's rage?
ZACHARIAH.What! does she fear a child without support,And fatherless?
JOSABET.Ah! here she is. Come, let us go: we mustAvoid her.
Words in this poem 16
- 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.]
- sire n.
- A lord, master, or other person in authority. See Sir. [F. sire, originally, an older person. See Sir.]
- gory a.
- Covered with gore or clotted blood. [From Gore.]
- meanwhile n.
- The intervening time; as, in the meantime (or mean time).
- sacrificial a.
- Of or pertaining to sacrifice or sacrifices; consisting in sacrifice; performing sacrifice.
- besprinkling n.
- The act of sprinkling anything; a sprinkling over.
- haughty a.
- High; lofty; bold. [OE. hautein, F. hautain, fr. haut high, OF. also halt, fr. L. altus. See Altitude.]
- overpass v. t.
- To go over or beyond; to cross; as, to overpass a river; to overpass limits. [Cf. Surpass.]
- enclosure n.
- Inclosure. See Inclosure.
- infuriated a.
- Enraged; furious.
- doubtless a.
- Free from fear or suspicion.
- 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.]
- amaze v. t.
- To bewilder; to stupefy; to bring into a maze. [Pref. a- + maze.]
- flooding n.
- The filling or covering with water or other fluid; overflow; inundation; the filling anything to excess.
- fatherless a.
- Destitute of a living father; as, a fatherless child.
- avoid v. t.
- To empty. Wyclif. [OF. esvuidier, es (L. ex) + vuidier, voidier, to empty. See Void, a.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Act II: Scene I and II is in the public domain. This text is taken from Athaliah: A Tragedy, Project Gutenberg ebook #21967, the J. Donkersley translation; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Jean Racine, Act II: Scene I and II, in Athaliah: A Tragedy (1873), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #21967, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/racine-athaliah/act-ii-scene-i-and-ii.html, id L26958.
Form and metre
Act II: Scene I and II is 85 lines in 18 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%).
See other poems in iambic pentameter.
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.
- 10 --A----B--B-A--------- zachariah · men · mienA · bounds · alone · terrified · father · eyeB · formidable · place · theeB · majesty · queenA · glance · blaspheme · heavens · sword · frozen · abashed · fixed · appeared · her
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. Read against iambic pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| JOSABET. | 3 | ··· |
| That is enough, my daughters, cease your chanting: | 11 | ··˘/·/˘··/˘ |
| Tis time to mingle in the public prayers. | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Our hour is come; Let us go celebrate | 10 | //·····/˘· |
| This glorious day, and, in our turn, appear | 10 | ·/˘···/·˘/ |
| Before the Lord. What do I see! my son! | 10 | ·········· |
| What is the cause that hastens your return? | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| Where run you thus, all pale and out of breath? | 10 | ·········· |
| ZACHARIAH. | 4 | ·˘/˘ |
| O, my mother! | 4 | ··/˘ |
| JOSABET. | 3 | ··· |
| Well! what! | 2 | ·· |
| ZACHARIAH. | 4 | ·˘/˘ |
| The temple is profaned! | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| JOSABET. | 3 | ··· |
| How?-- | 1 | · |
| ZACHARIAH. | 4 | ·˘/˘ |
| And by the Lord the temple is abandoned. | 11 | ·····/˘·˘/˘ |
| JOSABET. | 3 | ··· |
| I tremble; hasten to enlighten me. | 10 | ·/˘/˘·˘/˘· |
| ZACHARIAH. | 4 | ·˘/˘ |
| My sire, the high priest, having offered up, | 10 | ·/···/˘/˘· |
| According to the law, the sacred bread | 10 | ˘/˘····/˘· |
| Of the new harvest, to the God that fosters | 11 | ···/˘····/˘ |
| Mankind, appearing still with gory hands | 10 | //˘/˘··/˘· |
| Fresh from the reeking entrails of the victim; | 11 | ···/˘/˘··/˘ |
| Close to his side the young Eliacin | 10 | ·········· |
| Assisting, like myself, in linen vests; | 10 | ˘/˘··/·/˘· |
| The priests, meanwhile, with sacrificial blood | 10 | ··/···˘/˘· |
| Besprinkling the assembly and the altar; | 11 | ˘/˘·˘/˘··/˘ |
| A murmur indistinct arose; at once | 10 | ·/˘˘˘/˘/·· |
| The astonished people turn aside their glance,-- | 11 | ·˘/˘/˘·˘/·· |
| A woman--can I name her and not curse?-- | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| A woman--It was Athaliah's self! | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| JOSABET. | 3 | ··· |
| Heavens! | 2 | /˘ |
| ZACHARIAH. | 4 | ·˘/˘ |
| In one of the church courts, reserved for men, | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| This haughty woman enters, with proud mien, | 10 | ·/˘/˘/˘··· |
| And even prepares to overpass the bounds | 10 | ·/˘/·/˘··· |
| Of the enclosure sacred, which alone | 10 | ··˘/˘/˘·˘/ |
| Is open to the Levites. Terrified | 10 | ·/˘··/˘/˘· |
| The people fled in every way. My father-- | 11 | ·/˘··/˘··/˘ |
| Ah! what resentment kindled in his eye! | 10 | ··˘/˘/˘··· |
| Moses to Pharoah seemed less formidable: | 11 | /˘·/˘··/˘˘˘ |
| Queen! go! said he, and quit this awful place, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| From which thy sex and vices banish thee: | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| Dost thou come here to brave the majesty | 10 | ·······/˘˘ |
| Of the Eternal God? At which the queen, | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
| Casting on him infuriated glance, | 10 | /˘··˘/˘·˘· |
| Her mouth was opening, doubtless, to blaspheme: | 10 | ···/˘/˘·˘/ |
| I know not if the angel of the Heavens | 11 | ·····/˘··/˘ |
| Appearing showed to her a flaming sword; | 10 | ˘/˘····/˘· |
| But instantly her tongue and lips were frozen, | 11 | ·/˘˘·····/˘ |
| And all her over-boldness was abashed; | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| As if her eyes were awe-struck, they were fixed; | 10 | ·········· |
| And, above all, Eliacin appeared | 10 | ········˘/ |
| To amaze her. | 4 | ·˘/· |
| JOSABET. | 3 | ··· |
| What! Has Eliacin been seen by her? | 10 | ·········· |
| ZACHARIAH. | 4 | ·˘/˘ |
| We both of us beheld that cruel queen, | 10 | ····˘/·/˘· |
| Who with an equal horror struck our hearts: | 10 | ···/˘/˘·/· |
| But very soon the priests surrounded us-- | 10 | ·/˘···˘/˘· |
| They caused us to withdraw. Of all the rest | 10 | ····˘/···· |
| I'm ignorant, and I returned to tell | 10 | ·/˘˘··˘/·· |
| You of this woeful uproar. | 7 | ···/˘/· |
| JOSABET. | 3 | ··· |
| She came, no doubt, to tear him from our arms; | 10 | ········/· |
| Her fury came to seek him at the altar! | 11 | ·/˘······/˘ |
| Perhaps, the object of so many tears | 10 | ˘/·/˘··/˘· |
| Is at this moment--God, who seest my grief, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Do Thou remember David! | 7 | ··˘/˘/˘ |
| SALOMITH. | 3 | ··· |
| What is the reason of your flooding tears? | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| ZACHARIAH. | 4 | ·˘/˘ |
| Ah! Is Eliacin's life in danger? | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| SALOMITH. | 3 | ··· |
| Has he attracted Athaliah's rage? | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
| ZACHARIAH. | 4 | ·˘/˘ |
| What! does she fear a child without support, | 10 | ········˘/ |
| And fatherless? | 4 | ·/˘˘ |
| JOSABET. | 3 | ··· |
| Ah! here she is. Come, let us go: we must | 10 | ·········· |
| Avoid her. | 3 | ˘/· |
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