Act II: Scene III and IV
AGAR.Why, Madam, do you linger in this place?Here all the objects wound and anger you.Unto the priest, who dwells within it, leaveThis temple, flee this tumult, and go calmYour agitated spirit in your palace.
ATHALIAH.No, no, I cannot: my perplexityAnd weakness thou behold'st. Give my commandsThat Mathan instantly must hasten hither.Happy if I can find, by his assistance,The peace I seek--that's always shunning me!
ABNER.Your pardon, Madam, if I dare defend him:Joad's zeal should not have struck you with surprise:Such is the eternal order of the GodWe serve: His temple and His altar He,Himself, forbade to us; to Aaron's sonsAlone, His sacrifices were committed;He marked the Levites' office and their place,And, above all, to their posterity forbadeAll intercourse with other gods.Indeed, both wife and mother of our kings,Are you in this respect a stranger to us?Do you not know our laws? Must I to-day--Here is your Mathan; I will take my leave.
ATHALIAH.Abner, your presence here is requisite.No more of Joad's rash violence; of allThat heap of superstition, which bars outAll other nations from your sanctuary;A subject more momentous stirs my fears.I know, from infancy brought up to arms,That Abner has a noble heart; that heCan render, when necessity demands,His duty to his God, and what he owesUnto his queen. Remain.
Words in this poem
- momentous a.
- Of moment or consequence; very important; weighty; as, a momentous decision; momentous affairs. [Cf. L. momentosus rapid, momentary.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Act II: Scene III and IV 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 III and IV, in Athaliah: A Tragedy (1873), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #21967, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/racine-athaliah/act-ii-scene-iii-and-iv.html, id L26959.
Form and metre
Act II: Scene III and IV is 37 lines in 4 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 87%).
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.
- 1 -A---A agar · placeA · you · leave · calm · palaceA
- 3 ---A--A-A----- abner · him · surprise · godA · he · sons · committedA · place · forbadeA · gods · kings · us · day · leave
- 4 -A-A------- athaliah · requisiteA · all · outA · sanctuary · fears · arms · he · demands · owes · remain
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 |
|---|---|---|
| AGAR. | 2 | /˘ |
| Why, Madam, do you linger in this place? | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Here all the objects wound and anger you. | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Unto the priest, who dwells within it, leave | 10 | ·········· |
| This temple, flee this tumult, and go calm | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Your agitated spirit in your palace. | 11 | ·/˘·˘/˘··/˘ |
| ATHALIAH. | 4 | ···· |
| No, no, I cannot: my perplexity | 10 | ···/˘·˘/˘˘ |
| And weakness thou behold'st. Give my commands | 10 | ·/˘·····˘/ |
| That Mathan instantly must hasten hither. | 11 | ·/˘/˘˘·/˘/˘ |
| Happy if I can find, by his assistance, | 11 | /˘······˘/˘ |
| The peace I seek--that's always shunning me! | 10 | ·····/·/˘· |
| ABNER. | 2 | /˘ |
| Your pardon, Madam, if I dare defend him: | 11 | ·/˘/˘···˘/· |
| Joad's zeal should not have struck you with surprise: | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Such is the eternal order of the God | 11 | ···˘/˘/˘··· |
| We serve: His temple and His altar He, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Himself, forbade to us; to Aaron's sons | 10 | ˘/˘/···/˘· |
| Alone, His sacrifices were committed; | 11 | ˘/·/˘·˘·˘/˘ |
| He marked the Levites' office and their place, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| And, above all, to their posterity forbade | 11 | ······˘/˘˘/ |
| All intercourse with other gods. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Indeed, both wife and mother of our kings, | 10 | ˘/···/˘·/· |
| Are you in this respect a stranger to us? | 11 | ····˘/·/˘·· |
| Do you not know our laws? Must I to-day-- | 10 | ····/····· |
| Here is your Mathan; I will take my leave. | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| ATHALIAH. | 4 | ···· |
| Abner, your presence here is requisite. | 10 | /˘·/˘··/˘˘ |
| No more of Joad's rash violence; of all | 10 | ·····/˘˘·· |
| That heap of superstition, which bars out | 10 | ····˘/˘··· |
| All other nations from your sanctuary; | 11 | ·/˘/˘··/˘·˘ |
| A subject more momentous stirs my fears. | 10 | ·/˘·˘/˘··· |
| I know, from infancy brought up to arms, | 10 | ···/˘˘···· |
| That Abner has a noble heart; that he | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Can render, when necessity demands, | 10 | ·/˘·˘/˘˘˘/ |
| His duty to his God, and what he owes | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Unto his queen. Remain. | 6 | ····˘/ |
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.