Act II: Scene VI
MATHAN.At length I have the liberty to speak;I can expose the truth to open day.Some monster's rising in that temple reared!Queen, do not wait the bursting of the cloud.Abner, attended by the high-priest Joad,Was there before the break of day: You knowHis passion for the offspring of their kings.And who can say that Joad does not intend,In place of them, to substitute the boyBy which heaven threatens you. It may perchanBe his own son.
ATHALIAH.Mine eyes are opened: I begin to seeClearly into the warnings of the heavens.I wish, however, to be free from doubt:A child is little fit to flourish thoughts,Yet one may make us judge of great designs.I must, dear Mathan, see him--question him.But go yourself, without exciting fears,And cause my Tyrians to arm themselves.
Words in this poem
- intend v. t.
- To stretch' to extend; to distend. [OE. entenden to be attentive, F. entendre, fr. L. intendre, intentum, and intensum, to intend, attend, stretch out, extend; pref. in- in + tendere to stretch, s]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Act II: Scene VI 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 VI, in Athaliah: A Tragedy (1873), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #21967, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/racine-athaliah/act-ii-scene-vi.html, id L26961.
Form and metre
Act II: Scene VI is 21 lines in 2 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%).
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.
- 2 --A--A--- athaliah · see · heavensA · doubt · thoughts · designsA · him · fears · themselves
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 |
|---|---|---|
| MATHAN. | 2 | /˘ |
| At length I have the liberty to speak; | 10 | ·····/˘˘·· |
| I can expose the truth to open day. | 10 | ··˘/···/˘· |
| Some monster's rising in that temple reared! | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| Queen, do not wait the bursting of the cloud. | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Abner, attended by the high-priest Joad, | 10 | /˘˘/˘····· |
| Was there before the break of day: You know | 10 | ·········· |
| His passion for the offspring of their kings. | 10 | ·/˘··/···· |
| And who can say that Joad does not intend, | 10 | ········˘/ |
| In place of them, to substitute the boy | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| By which heaven threatens you. It may perchan | 10 | ··//˘····· |
| Be his own son. | 4 | ···· |
| ATHALIAH. | 4 | ···· |
| Mine eyes are opened: I begin to see | 10 | ···/˘·˘/·· |
| Clearly into the warnings of the heavens. | 11 | /˘···/˘··/˘ |
| I wish, however, to be free from doubt: | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| A child is little fit to flourish thoughts, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Yet one may make us judge of great designs. | 10 | ········˘/ |
| I must, dear Mathan, see him--question him. | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| But go yourself, without exciting fears, | 10 | ··˘/··˘/˘· |
| And cause my Tyrians to arm themselves. | 9 | ·······˘/ |
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.