Act V: Scene V
(Athaliah enters, and addresses Joad.)ATHALIAH.Ah! there thou art, seducer! thouNoxious contriver of conspiracies,Who only on confusion feed'st thy hopes;Perpetual enemy of sovereign power!In the support of God thou hast reposed:Art thou yet disabused of thy vain trust?His temple and thy life he yields to me.I ought upon the altar, where thy handMakes sacrifices, thee.--But with the priceThey offer me I must content myself.What thou hast promised, see to execute:That boy, that treasure must be given to me.Where are they?
JOAD.Immediately thou shalt be satisfied;I am about to show them both at once.
(The screen is withdrawn. Joas is seen on his throne; his nurse on her knees at his right; Azariah, with his sword in his hand, is standing at his left; and near him are Zachariah and Salomith, kneeling on the steps of the throne; several Levites armed are ranged around.)
Appear, dear boy, blood worthy Israel's kings!Of our most saintly monarchs, knowst thou, queen,The inheritor? Knowst thou at least these scarsThy dagger made? Behold thy king, thy son,The son of Ochoziah! Abner, youAnd people recognise king Joas!
ABNER.Heavens!
ATHALIAH (to Joad).Perfidious wretch!
JOAD.See'st thou that faithful JewessOf whom, thou knowest well, he drew the breast?Him rescued from thy rage by Josabet,This temple hailed, where God has cared for him,Of David's treasures, see what I have left.
ATHALIAH.Thy treachery, traitor, to that child will beMost fatal. Soldiers, deliver me fromThat odious spectre!
JOAD.Guards of the living God, defend your king!
(The bottom of the temple opens, and the Levites rush upon the scene from all sides.)ATHALIAH.Where am I? Treason! O, unhappy queen!With arms and enemies I am surrounded!
JOAD.Thine eyes flash round in vain, escape thou canst not,On every side the Lord's encompassed thee:That God thou hast defied, into my handsHas given thee up: now render an accountTo Him of slaughters which have made thee drunk.
ATHALIAH.What fear has petrified my worthless troops?Into what snare hast thou conducted me,Base Abner?
ABNER.Queen, God is my testimony--
ATHALIAH.Hence with thy God, thou traitor, and avenge me!
ABNER.On whom, on Joas, my master?
ATHALIAH.He Joas? Thy king? Remember, vile one, thatMy armies still are holding you besieged.I hear my camp demand me with loud cries,They come to aid me, quake, rebellious crew!
Words in this poem
- seducer n.
- One who, or that which, seduces; specifically, one who prevails over the chastity of a woman by enticements and persuasions.
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
- reposed a.
- Composed; calm; tranquil; at rest.
- ought p. p.
- Was or were under obligation to pay; owed. [Orig. the preterit of the verb to owe. OE. oughte, aughte, ahte, AS. ahte. sq. root110. See Owe.]
- shalt
- 2d per. sing. of Shall.
- saintly a.
- Like a saint; becoming a holy person.
- inheritor n.
- One who inherits; an heir.
- recognise v. t.
- To know again; to perceive the identity of, with a person or thing previously known; to recover or recall knowledge of. [From Recognizance; see Cognition, and cf. Reconnoiter.]
- jewess n.
- A Hebrew woman.
- spectre n.
- Something preternaturally visible; an apparition; a ghost; a phantom. [F. spectre, fr. L. spectrum an appearance, image, specter, fr. specere to look. See Spy, and cf. Spectrum.]
- rebellious a.
- Engaged in rebellion; disposed to rebel of the nature of rebels or of rebellion; resisting government or lawful authority by force.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Act V: Scene V 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 V: Scene V, in Athaliah: A Tragedy (1873), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #21967, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/racine-athaliah/act-v-scene-v.html, id L26980.
Form and metre
Act V: Scene V is 66 lines in 16 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- joad · athaliah · thou · conspiracies · hopes · power · reposed · trust · meA · hand · price · myself · execute · meA · they
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 |
|---|---|---|
| (Athaliah enters, and addresses Joad.) | 11 | ····/˘·˘/˘· |
| ATHALIAH. | 4 | ···· |
| Ah! there thou art, seducer! thou | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| Noxious contriver of conspiracies, | 10 | /˘˘/˘·˘/˘˘ |
| Who only on confusion feed'st thy hopes; | 10 | ·/˘·˘/˘··· |
| Perpetual enemy of sovereign power! | 10 | ˘/˘/˘˘·/˘/ |
| In the support of God thou hast reposed: | 10 | ··˘/····/· |
| Art thou yet disabused of thy vain trust? | 10 | ···˘˘/···· |
| His temple and thy life he yields to me. | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| I ought upon the altar, where thy hand | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Makes sacrifices, thee.--But with the price | 10 | ·/˘·˘····· |
| They offer me I must content myself. | 10 | ·/˘···˘/·/ |
| What thou hast promised, see to execute: | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| That boy, that treasure must be given to me. | 10 | ···/˘··/·· |
| Where are they? | 3 | ··· |
| JOAD. | 1 | · |
| Immediately thou shalt be satisfied; | 10 | ˘/˘˘···/˘· |
| I am about to show them both at once. | 10 | ·········· |
| (The screen is withdrawn. Joas is seen on his throne; his nurse on her knees at his right; Azariah, with his sword in his hand, is standing at his left; and near him are Zachariah and Salomith, kneeling on the steps of the throne; several Levites armed are ranged around.) | 63 | ···˘/························/˘········˘/˘····/˘······/˘/˘····· |
| Appear, dear boy, blood worthy Israel's kings! | 10 | ˘/···/˘/˘· |
| Of our most saintly monarchs, knowst thou, queen, | 10 | ·/·/˘/···· |
| The inheritor? Knowst thou at least these scars | 10 | ·˘/˘······ |
| Thy dagger made? Behold thy king, thy son, | 10 | ·/˘·˘/···· |
| The son of Ochoziah! Abner, you | 9 | ······/˘· |
| And people recognise king Joas! | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| ABNER. | 2 | /˘ |
| Heavens! | 2 | /˘ |
| ATHALIAH (to Joad). | 6 | ······ |
| Perfidious wretch! | 5 | ˘/˘˘· |
| JOAD. | 1 | · |
| See'st thou that faithful Jewess | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| Of whom, thou knowest well, he drew the breast? | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Him rescued from thy rage by Josabet, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| This temple hailed, where God has cared for him, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Of David's treasures, see what I have left. | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| ATHALIAH. | 4 | ···· |
| Thy treachery, traitor, to that child will be | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| Most fatal. Soldiers, deliver me from | 10 | ·/˘/˘˘/˘·· |
| That odious spectre! | 6 | ·/˘˘/˘ |
| JOAD. | 1 | · |
| Guards of the living God, defend your king! | 10 | ···/˘·˘/·· |
| (The bottom of the temple opens, and the Levites rush upon the scene from all sides.) | 21 | ·/˘··/˘/˘··/˘········ |
| ATHALIAH. | 4 | ···· |
| Where am I? Treason! O, unhappy queen! | 10 | ···/˘·˘/˘· |
| With arms and enemies I am surrounded! | 11 | ···/˘˘··˘/˘ |
| JOAD. | 1 | · |
| Thine eyes flash round in vain, escape thou canst not, | 11 | ······˘/··· |
| On every side the Lord's encompassed thee: | 10 | ·/˘···˘/˘· |
| That God thou hast defied, into my hands | 10 | ····˘/···· |
| Has given thee up: now render an account | 10 | ·/···/˘·˘/ |
| To Him of slaughters which have made thee drunk. | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| ATHALIAH. | 4 | ···· |
| What fear has petrified my worthless troops? | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Into what snare hast thou conducted me, | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| Base Abner? | 3 | ·/˘ |
| ABNER. | 2 | /˘ |
| Queen, God is my testimony-- | 8 | ····/˘·˘ |
| ATHALIAH. | 4 | ···· |
| Hence with thy God, thou traitor, and avenge me! | 11 | ·····/˘·˘/· |
| ABNER. | 2 | /˘ |
| On whom, on Joas, my master? | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| ATHALIAH. | 4 | ···· |
| He Joas? Thy king? Remember, vile one, that | 10 | ····˘/˘··· |
| My armies still are holding you besieged. | 10 | ·/˘··/˘·˘/ |
| I hear my camp demand me with loud cries, | 10 | ····˘/···· |
| They come to aid me, quake, rebellious crew! | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
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