Chapter IV: Prologue: La Piete (2)

Oui, vos moindres discours ont des grâces secrètes;
Une noble pudeur à tout ce que vous faites
Donne un prix que n'ont point ni la pourpre ni l'or.
Quel climat renfermait un si rare trésor?
Dans quel sein vertueux avez-vous pris naissance? 1020
Et quelle main si sage éleva votre enfance?
Mais dites promptement ce que vous demandez:
Tous vos desirs, Esther, vous seront accordés,
Dussiez-vous, je l'ai dit, et veux bien le redire,
Demander la moitié de ce puissant empire. 1025

ESTHER.

Je ne m'égare point dans ces vastes désirs.
Mais puisqu'il faut enfin expliquer mes soupirs,
Puisque mon roi lui-même à parler me convie,
(Elle se jette aux pieds du Roi.)
J'ose vous implorer, et pour ma propre vie,
Et pour les tristes jours d'un peuple infortuné, 1030
Qu'à périr avec moi vous avez condamné.

ASSUÉRUS, _la relevant_.

A périr? Vous? Quel peuple? Et quel est ce mystère?

AMAN _tout bas_.

Je tremble.

ESTHER.

Esther, Seigneur, eut un Juif pour son père.
De vos ordres sanglants vous savez la rigueur.

AMAN.

Ah! dieux!

ASSUÉRUS.

Ah! de quel coup me percez-vous le coeur? 1035
Vous la fille d'un Juif? Hé quoi? tout ce que j'aime,
Cette Esther, l'innocence et la sagesse même,
Que je croyais du ciel les plus chères amours,
Dans cette source impure aurait puisé ses jours?
Malheureux!

ESTHER.

Vous pourrez rejeter ma prière. 1040
Mais je demande au moins que, pour grâce dernière,
Jusqu'a la fin, Seigneur, vous m'entendiez parler,
Et que surtout Aman n'ose point me troubler.

ASSUÉRUS.

Parlez.

ESTHER.

O Dieu, confonds l'audace et l'imposture,
Ces Juifs, dont vous voulez délivrer la nature, 1045
Que vous croyez, Seigneur, le rebut des humains,
D'une riche contrée autrefois souverains,
Pendant qu'ils n'adoraient que le Dieu de leurs pères,
Ont vu bénir le cours de leurs destins prospères.

Ce Dieu, maître absolu de la terre et des cieux, 1050
N'est point tel que l'erreur le figure à vos yeux.
L'Éternel est son nom. Le monde est son ouvrage;
Il entend les soupirs de l'humble qu'on outrage,
Juge tous les mortels avec d'égales lois,
Et du haut de son trône interroge les rois. 1055
Des plus fermes États la chute épouvantable,
Quand il veut, n'est qu'un jeu de sa main redoutable.
Les Juifs à d'autres dieux osèrent s'adresser:
Roi, peuples, en un jour tout se vit disperser.
Sous les Assyriens leur triste servitude 1060
Devint le juste prix de leur ingratitude.

Mais pour punir enfin nos maîtres à leur tour,
Dieu fit choix de Cyrus avant qu'il vît le jour,
L'appela par son nom, le promit à la terre,
Le fit naître, et soudain l'arma de son tonnerre, 1065
Brisa les fiers remparts et les portes d'airain,
Mit des superbes rois la dépouille en sa main,
De son temple détruit vengea sur eux l'injure.
Babylone paya nos pleurs avec usure.
Cyrus, par lui vainqueur, publia ses bienfaits, 1070
Regarda notre peuple avec des yeux de paix,
Nous rendit et nos lois et nos fêtes divines;
Et le temple déjà sortait de ses ruines.
Mais de ce roi si sage héritier insensé,
Son fils interrompit l'ouvrage commencé, 1075
Fut sourd à nos douleurs. Dieu rejeta sa race,
Le retrancha lui-même, et vous mit en sa place.

Que n'espérions-nous point d'un roi si généreux?
«Dieu regarde en pitié son peuple malheureux,
Disions-nous: un roi règne, ami de l'innocence.» 1080
Partout du nouveau prince on vantait la clémence:
Les Juifs partout de joie en poussèrent des cris.
Ciel! verra-t-on toujours par de cruels esprits
Des princes les plus doux l'oreille environnée,
Et du bonheur public la source empoisonnée? 1085
Dans le fond de la Thrace un barbare enfanté
Est venu dans ces lieux souffler la cruauté.
Un ministre ennemi de votre propre gloire. . . .

AMAN.

De votre gloire? Moi? Ciel! Le pourriez-vous crone?
Moi, qui n'ai d'autre objet ni d'autre dieu. . . .

ASSUÉRUS.

Tais-toi. 1090
Oses-tu donc parler sans l'ordre de ton roi?

ESTHER.

Notre ennemi cruel devant vous se déclare:
C'est lui. C'est ce ministre infidèle et barbare,
Qui, d'un zèle trompeur à vos yeux revêtu,
Contre notre innocence arma votre vertu. 1095
Et quel autre, grand Dieu! qu'un Scythe impitoyable
Aurait de tant d'horreurs dicté l'ordre effroyable?
Partout l'affreux signal en même temps donné
De meurtres remplira l'univers étonné.
On verra, sous le nom du plus juste des princes, 1100
Un perfide étranger désoler vos provinces,
Et dans ce palais même, en proie à son courroux,
Le sang de vos sujets regorger jusqu'à vous.

Et que reproche aux Juifs sa haine envenimée?
Quelle guerre intestine avons-nous allumée? 1105
Les a-t-on vus marcher parmi vos ennemis?
Fut-il jamais au joug esclaves plus soumis?
Adorant dans leurs fers le Dieu qui les châtie,
Pendant que votre main sur eux appesantie
A leurs persécuteurs les livrait sans secours, 1110
Ils conjuraient ce Dieu de veiller sur vos jours,
De rompre des méchants les trames criminelles,
De mettre votre trône à l'ombre de ses ailes.
N'en doutez point, Seigneur, il fut votre soutien.
Lui seui mit à vos pieds le Parthe et l'Indien, 1115
Dissipa devant vous les innombrables Scythes,
Et renferma les mers dans vos vastes limites.
Lui seul aux yeux d'un Juif découvrit le dessein
De deux traîtres tout prêts à vous percer le sein.
Hélas! ce Juif jadis m'adopta pour sa fille. 1120

ASSUÉRUS.

Mardochée?

ESTHER.

Il restait seui de notre famille.
Mon père était son frère. Il descend comme moi
Du sang infortuné de notre premier roi.
Plein d'une juste horreur pour un Amalécite,
Race que notre Dieu de sa bouche a maudite, 1125
Il n'a devant Aman pu fléchir les genoux,
Ni lui rendre un honneur qu'll ne croit dû qu'à vous.
De là contre les Juifs et contre Mardochée
Cette haine, Seigneur, sous d'autres noms cachée.
En vain de vos bienfaits Mardochée est paré: 1130
A la porte d'Aman est déjà préparé
D'un infâme trépas l'instrument exécrable.
Dans une heure au plus tard ce vieillard vénérable,
Des portes du palais par son ordre arraché,
Couvert de votre pourpre y doit être attaché. 1135

ASSUÉRUS.

Quel jour mêlé d'horreur vient effrayer mon âme?
Tout mon sang de colère et de honte s'enflamme.
J'étais donc le jouet. . . . Ciel, daigne m'éclairer.
Un moment sans témoins cherchons à respirer.
Appelez Mardochée, il faut aussi l'entendre. 1140
(_Le Roi s'éloigne_.)

UNE ISRAÉLITE.

Vérité, que j'implore, achève de descendre!

SCÈNE V.

ESTHER, AMAN, LE CHOEUR.

AMAN, _à Esther_.

D'un juste étonnement je demeure frappé;
Les ennemis des Juifs m'ont trahi, m'ont trompé.
J'en atteste du Ciel la puissance suprême.
En les perdant j'ai cru vous assurer vous-même. 1145
Princesse, en leur faveur, employez mon crédit:
Le Roi, vous le voyez, flotte encore interdit.
Je sais par quels ressorts on le'pousse, on l'arrête,
Et fais, comme il me plaît, le calme et la tempête.
Les intérêts des Juifs déjà me sont sacrés. 1150
Parlez: vos ennemis aussitôt massacrés,
Victimes de la foi que ma bouche vous jure,
De ma fatale erreur répareront l'injure.
Quel sang demandez-vous?

ESTHER.

Va, traître, laisse-moi.
Les Juifs n'attendent rien d'un méchant tel que toi. 1155
Misérable, le Dieu vengeur de l'innocence,
Tout prêt à te juger, tient déjà sa balance.
Bientôt son juste arrêt te sera prononcée.
Tremble. Son jour approche, et ton règne est passé.

AMAN.

Oui, ce Dieu, je l'avoue, est un Dieu redoutable. 1160
Mais veut-il que l'on garde une haine implacable?
C'en est fait: mon orgueil est forcé de plier;
L'inexorable Aman est réduit à prier.
(_Il se jette à ses pieds_.)
Par le salut des Juifs, par ces pieds que j'embrasse,
Par ce sage vieillard, l'honneur de votre race, 1165
Daignez d'un roi terrible apaiser le courroux.
Sauvez Aman, qui tremble à vos sacrés genoux.

SCÈNE VI.

ASSUÉRUS, ESTHER, AMAN, ÉLISE, GARDES, LE CHOEUR.

ASSUÉRUS.

Quoi? le traître sur vous porte ses mains hardies?
Ah! dans ses yeux confus je lis ses perfidies;
Et son trouble, appuyant la foi de vos discours, 1170
De tous ses attentats me rappelle le cours.
Qu'à ce monstre à l'instant l'âme soit arrachée;
Et que devant sa porte, au lieu de Mardochée,
Apaisant par sa mort et la terre et les cieux,
De mes peuples vengés il repaisse les yeux. 1175
(_Aman est emmené par les Gardes_.)

SCÈNE VII.

ASSUÉRUS, ESTHER, MARDOCHÉE, ÉLISE, LE CHOEUR.

ASSUÉRUS _continue en s'adressant à Mardochée_.

Mortel chéri du ciel, mon salut et ma joie,
Aux conseils des méchants ton roi n'est plus en proie.
Mes yeux sont dessillés, le crime est confondu.
Viens briller près de moi dans le rang qui t'est dû.
Je te donne d'Aman les biens et la puissance; 1180
Possède justement son injuste opulence.
Je romps le joug funeste où les Juifs sont soumis;
Je leur livre le sang de tous leurs ennemis;
A légal des Persans je veux qu'on les honore,
Et que tout tremble au nom du Dieu qu'Esther adore. 1185
Rebâtissez son temple, et peuplez vos cités;
Que vos heureux enfants dans leurs solennités
Consacrent de ce jour le triomphe et la gloire,
Et qu'à jamais mon nom vive dans leur mémoire.

SCÈNE VIII.

ASSUÉRUS, ESTHER, MARDOCHÉE, ASAPH, ÉLISE, LE CHOEUR.

ASSUÉRUS.

Que veut Asaph? 1190

ASAPH.

Seigneur, le traître est expiré
Par le peuple en fureur à moitié déchiré.
On traîne, on va donner en spectacle funeste
De son corps tout sanglant le misérable reste.

MARDOCHÉE.

Roi, qu'à jamais le Ciel prenne soin de vos jours.
Le péril des Juifs presse, et veut un prompt secours. 1195

ASSUÉRUS.

Oui, je t'entends. Allons, par des ordres contraires,
Révoquer des méchants les ordres sanguinaires.

ESTHER.

O Dieu, par quelle route inconnue aux mortels
Ta sagesse conduit ses desseins éternels!

SCÈNE IX.

LE CHOEUR.

TOUT LE CHOEUR.

Dieu fait triompher l'innocence: 1200
Chantons, célébrons sa puissance.

UNE ISRAÉLITE.

Il a vu contre nous les méchants s'assembler,
Et notre sang prêt à couler.
Comme l'eau sur la terre ils allaient le répandre:
Du haut du ciel sa voix s'est fait entendre; 1205
L'homme superbe est renversé.
Ses propres flèches l'ont percé.

UNE AUTRE.

J'ai vu l'impie adoré sur la terre.
Pareil au cèdre, il cachait dans les cieux
Son front audacieux, 1210
Il semblait à son gré gouverner le tonnerre,
Foulait aux pieds ses ennemis vaincus.
Je n'ai fait que passer, il n'était déjà plus.

UNE AUTRE.

On peut des plus grands rois surprendre la justice.
Incapables de tromper, 1215
Ils ont peine à s'échapper
Des pièges de l'artifice.
Un coeur noble ne peut soupçonner en autrui
La bassesse et la malice.
Qu'il ne sent point en lui. 1220

UNE AUTRE.

Comment s'est calmé l'orage?

UNE AUTRE.

Quelle main salutaire a chassé le nuage?

TOUT LE CHOEUR.

L'aimable Esther a fait ce grand ouvrage.
De l'amour de son Dieu son coeur s'est embrasé;
Au péril d'une mort funeste 1225
Son zèle ardent s'est exposé.
Elle a parlé. Le Ciel a fait le reste.

DEUX ISRAÉLITES.

Esther a triomphé des filles des Persans.
La nature et le Ciel à l'envi l'ont ornée.

L'UNE DES DEUX.

Tout ressent de ses yeux les charmes innocents. 1230
Jamais tant de beauté fut-elle couronnée?

L'AUTRE.

Les charmes de son coeur sont encor plus puissants,
Jamais tant de vertu fut-elle couronnée?

TOUTES DEUX _ensemble_.

Esther a triomphé des filles des Persans.
La nature et le Ciel à l'envi l'ont ornée. 1235

UNE ISRAÉLITE _seule_.

Ton Dieu n'est plus irrité.
Réjouis-toi, Sion, et sors de la poussière.
Quitte les vêtements de ta captivité,
Et reprends ta splendeur première.

Les chemins de Sion à la fin sont ouverts. 1240
Rompez vos fers,
Tribus captives.
Troupes fugitives,
Repassez les monts et les mers.
Rassemblez-vous des bouts de l'univers.

TOUT LE CHOEUR.

Rompez vos fers,
Tribus captives.
Troupes fugitives,
Repassez les monts et les mers.
Rassemblez-vous des bouts de l'univers. 1250

UNE ISRAÉLITE _seule_.

Je reverrai ces campagnes si chères.

UNE AUTRE.

J'irai pleurer au tombeau de mes pères.

TOUT LE CHOEUR.

Repassez les monts et les mers.
Rassemblez-vous des bouts de l'univers.

UNE ISRAÉLITE _seule_.

Relevez, relevez les superbes portiques 1255
Du temple où notre Dieu se plaît d'etre adoré.
Que de l'or le plus pur son autel soit paré,
Et que du sein des monts le marbre soit tiré.
Liban, dépouille-toi de tes cedres antiques.
Prêtres sacrés, préparez vos cantiques. 1260

UNE AUTRE.

Dieu descend et revient habiter parmi nous.
Terre, frémis d'allégresse et de crainte;
Et vous, sous sa majesté sainte,
Cieux, abaissez-vous!

UNE AUTRE.

Que le Seigneur est bon! que son joug est aimable! 1265
Heureux qui dès l'enfance en connaît la douceur!
Jeune peuple, courez à ce maître adorable!
Les biens les plus charmants n'ont rien de comparable
Aux torrents de plaisirs qu'il répand dans un coeur.
Que le Seigneur est bon! que son joug est aimable! 1270
Heureux qui dès l'enfance en connaît la douceur!

UNE AUTRE.

Il s'apaise, il pardonne.
Du coeur ingrat qui l'abandonne
Il attend le retour.
Il excuse notre faiblesse. 1275
A nous chercher même il s'empresse.
Pour l'enfant qu'elle a mis au jour
Une mère a moins de tendresse.
Ah! qui peut avec lui partager notre amour?

TROIS ISRAÉLITES.

Il nous fait remporter une illustre victoire. 1280

L'UNE DES TROIS.

Il nous a révélé sa gloire.

TOUTES TROIS _ensemble_.

Ah! qui peut avec lui partager notre amour?

TOUT LE CHOEUR.

Que son nom soit béni, que son nom soit chanté!
Que l'on célèbre ses ouvrages
Au delà des temps et des âges, 1285
Au delà de l'éternité!

NOTES TO PROLOGUE.

[This prologue is an afterthought, having been written to provide a part for Mme. de Caylus, a niece of Mme. de Maintenon. It is never spoken on the stage, and rarely, if ever, read in French schools. It is here given for the sake of completeness only.]

3 ce lieu, of course is St. Cyr.

9 un roi, Louis XIV.

13 à sa porte, St. Cyr being in the vicinity of Versailles, the king's residence.

15 cet ouvrage, the founding of this institution.

24 Louis XIV. supported foreign missions in the East and in the _Nouveau Monde_.

31-32 Allusion is here made to the Augsburg League (1687), in which Austria joined Sweden, Saxony, etc., for the purpose of opposing Louis XIV. Its leading spirit was the protestant William of Orange.

36 The pope Innocent III. was accused by Louis XIV. of aiding the anti-Roman designs of William of Orange,

48 Allusion to the taking of Philippsburg, Mannheim and Frankenthal, in the preceding year.

49 un fils. The Grand Dauphin had conducted the above campaign, with the great engineer Vauban.

NOTES TO PLAY.

2 Beni soit is the usual form. The retained _que_ is therefore emphatic.--_Voeux_ very frequent in poetry for _prieres_, for metrical reasons. The whole expression is elliptical: _qui te rend [a moi en reponse] a_ etc.

3 Cf. Book of Esther, ii. 5, for the descent of Mordecai, and consequently of Esther herself, his brother's daughter.

4 For tense of _fus_, see App. II., ii. B. b.

5 d'un meme is stronger than _du meme_. Cf. l. 263.

8 Note the mode of emphasizing pronouns, Cf. ll. 23, 443, and contrast ll. 47, 429.

9 je te fais chercher, see App. III. Note the present tense.

10 donc, emphatic, untranslatable here. Observe the order _quel climat_, _quel desert_, and the reason for it.

11 eploree, quite different from _deploree_, is an adjective, meaning "weeping," "tearful." Cf. Alfred de Musset:

_Plantez un saule an cimetiere;
J'aime son feuillage eplore . . ._

13 When ne . . . que = "only," _que_ precedes the word specially qualified by the adverb in English. Here the sense makes "only" qualify _attendais_ rather than _la fin_. For similar construction see l. 373.

15 Note: _abuser quelqu'un_, "to deceive a person."
_abuser de_, "to use improperly."
_injurier_, "to abuse" or "insult."

16 Suse, "Shushan the palace" of the Bible, on the river Eulaeus, was the winter residence of the first Persian kings, the Achemenidae. Susa, Persepolis, and Ecbatana were the principal towns of, Persia, the biblical "Elam."

18 Note the formal masc. _assis_.

20 Sion, properly one of the four hills, on which Jerusalem was built, and often used as the name of the town itself, here stands for the Jewish nation, to which Jerusalem stood in the same relation as Mecca to the Mohammedans.

23 horreur, a very strong word, because expressing the physical effect of fear (here "religious awe"). Cf. Latin _horridus_, _horresco_, etc.

24 J'ai su. For tense, see App. II, iii. B. Savoir is often elegantly used = "to succeed," especially in this tense.

37 For this _Assuerus_, see Introduction, section IV.

29 ressort (lit. that which "comes out again" when pressed in) is any mechanical "spring;" often used figuratively.

31-34 See Book of Esther, i. 10-22. On the assumption that Assuerus is Darius, Vashti is Atossa, daughter of Cyrus, and wife, successively, of Cambyses II., Smerdis, and Darius, to the last of whom she bore Xerxes and Artabazanus.

33-34 Epexegesis, or explanation, of _disgrace_. Cf. ll. 250-252.

36 offensee, in the correct etymological sense of "wounded." Vashti left an "aching void" in the king's heart.

39 L'Inde, now usually _l'Indus_, is generally the river, and rarely _India_, in Racine's writings.

40 comparaitre, always used of appearance in answer to official summons.

41 indompte, a classical epithet. Cf. _indomitique Dahae_, Verg. Aen. VIII. 728. The warlike and nomadic character of the Scythians increased in the mind their geographical remoteness. The Parthians are supposed to have sprung from Scythian exiles. The two races occupied the vast regions of north-western Asia.

45 heureux, like "happy," often = "successful."

49 agite refers of course to _il_ in l. 50.

51 The exquisite taste and modesty of the queen's narrative has been commented upon in Introd. section IV.

54 ma race et mon pays. We are told (Book of Esther, ii. 5-7) that Mordecai, who had taken Esther for his daughter, had been carried away from Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar; whence it follows that Esther, too, was not only a Jewess by race, but a native of Palestine. The Book of Esther (ii. 20) says she had not showed "her kindred nor her people."

56 peuple means: 1. "nation;" 2. "mass of common people," in contradistinction to _la noblesse_; 3. "crowd."

57 intérêt, whose meaning is always "a matter of interest," will have to be variously translated; e.g., "prize," "cause," "need," etc.

58 arrêt is the decision at which, when reached, a "stop" is made. Hence, "decree," "edict," and here "doom."

59 brigue is correctly defined by Mr. Saintsbury as "the whole process of endeavoring to secure a favor by interest and influence."--_Suffrages_ is here used of the claims to preference put forward by each.

69 Note that tandis que has two uses: 1 "during the time that," and 2. "whereas." _Pendant que_ has only the former.

75 dès has always the force of "as early as," but the translation must vary.

79-80 Cf. Book of Esther, ii. 18: "And he made a release to the provinces and gave gifts . . ." Line 80 is figurative: the king's releases and gifts did not actually "invite" the masses of his subjects (see N. to l. 56) to the royal nuptials, but "made them partake of the joy" of these nuptials.--_Leurs princes_ = Ahasuerus and his new queen. _Leurs_, a _constructio ad sensum_ with the collective singular _peuple_.

84 Literally true of the then known world, since the one hundred and twenty-seven provinces of the Persian Empire extended from the Indus in the East to the Hellespont in the West.

88 sont cessées. _Cesser_ was both transitive and intransitive, as early as the sixteenth century: hence the passive is legitimate, and lays additional stress on the state resulting from the action.

89 ennuis = "troubles." _Trouble_ (cf. l. 1170) = "agitation."

92 encor. See App. I, Metre.

96 jusque has always the force of "as far as," but must be variously translated.

98 avis. Cf.: _C'est moit avis.--Avis au lecteur.--Quand je serai prêt, je vous en donnerai avis.--Le Président prit l'avis de la chambre.--Il donne trof d'avis.

99 découvrir here, as several times in this play, "to reveal." Cf. Merchant of Venice, (Act II. Sc. vii.) "Draw aside the curtains and discover the several caskets."

Pratiques, like our "practices," always unfavorable when = "doings."

100 domestiques = "officers of the household." The "Rest of the Book of Esther" gives their names, Gabatha and Tharra, and states that they were keepers of the palace (xii. 1).

101-110 These lines are a graceful allusion to St. Cyr, and to Mme. de Maintenon herself. See Introd. section III.

105 profanes, here, as in l. 155, is an especially apt word, since it suggests not only the seclusion in which these maidens live within the palace, but also the difference between their religion and that of the court.

108 me cherchant moi-même, "seeking [communion with] myself."

114 A fine antithesis. Cf. Oedipus Rex, l. l: Kudmou tou palai nia trophe. 120 (Heading) Endroit or _lieu_ is the general word for a "place" or "spot." _Place_ is the place to which a thing belongs.

123 De tous côtes and de toutes parts (l. 148) = both "on all sides" and "from all sides."

126 jusques. See App. I, Metre. The "_s_" is due to the tendency of adverbial words to assume a final "s." Cf. _sans_ from _sine_, _alors_ from _ad illam horam_.

132 déplorable, a fine etymological use of the word; now only used in the derived meaning "sad" or "wretched."

139 ta douleur retracée = _le recit de ta douleur_. This is a Latin construction of frequent occurrence in this play. Cf. _post urbem conditam_ = "after the founding of the city." The past participle qualifying the noun takes the place of our abstract substantive.

140 n'occupe. _Pas_ is omitted after _si_ whenever the affirmative idea is predominant. Tr.: "unless."

146 relever. See App. III.

149 tes peuples. Cf. l. 19, and N. to l. 56.

155 This interview is a departure from the Book of Esther, where Mordecai, in accordance with Eastern custom, can do no more than "walk before the court of the women's house" (ii. II).

s'ose avancer is an elegant order for _ose s'avancer_. The peculiarity is that _oser_ is here used as though it were one of the two auxiliaries _avoir and _être_, which alone must separate the oblique conjunctives from their governing verb. Cf. ll. 231, 471. We shall find several other such pseudo-auxiliaries.

156 père, figuratively, of course.

160 enfin must be variously translated. It can have the force of: 1. "at length;" 2. "too," at the end of an enumeration; 3. "in short;" 4. "still," or, "after all;" 5. "in the end."

164 c'est fait de . . . = _actum est de_. . . . See also App. V, ii. D.

166 Devoir means 1. "to owe;" 2. "to have to," "must" expressing either physical necessity (e.g., "You must be tired") or moral obligation; 3. "to be [about] to;" e.g., "I am to be queen of the May."

170 race d'Amalécite, in apposition to _Aman_, is infinitely more contemptuous than the equally metrical _de race amalécite_. Tr. "of the brood of Amalek." Cf. Book of Esther, iii. 1, where Haman is stated to be descended from Agag, king of the Amalekites.

171 crèdit:--"personal influence," which Haman has used as a weapon to strike down his foes.

173 prévenir means: 1. "to forestall," 2. "to give notice" (l. 203), "to warn," i.e., to forestall the mishap; 3. "to prejudice," i.e., to forestall impartial judgment, as here.

174 en horreur à. Cf. _odio esse alicui_, and _en proie à (l. 1177). See App. V, i.

176 pris. Cf. _prendre jour avec quelqu'un_ = "to make an appointment."

182 les restes, very strong when applied to persons.

183 See l. 140, N.

189 Note the agreement of the adverb.--_Le feu de_ = "the fire that inspired . . ."

194 affecte = "claims." The word is very skillfully chosen. It conveys, without the slightest disrespect, Esther's sense of the arbitrary character of this law.

203 _sans [que je puisse] le prévenir_. The queen may not even inform the king of her desire to speak with him.

208 Que dis-je? = "Nay!"

209 sang, a frequent metonymy for _race_, as in English.

211 Book of Esther, iv. 14: "and who knoweth whether thou art not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?"

214 vain--"idle," "useless." Cf. "in vain."

216 ses saints = "his holy ones."

218 d'un enfant, and not _d'une enfant_, because the statement is general. The next line appeals to Esther directly, hence the fem. heureuse.

221 peuvent = "can avail."

226 Cf. Isaiah, xl. 17. "All the nations are as nothing before him; they are counted to him less than nothing."

227 trépas (from _trans_ and low Latin _passare_) is the passing across the boundary of life. Cf. our two uses of "trespass."

230 que is here a survival from the very frequent construction which begins with _c'est: c'est, sans doute, que_. . .-_Éprouver_ has either an active sense, "to put to the test," or a passive, "to experience."

232 The addition of _bien_ to _vouloir_ weakens the meaning from strong volition to condescension. Here: "has deigned." Cf. l. 357. Similarly _aimer_ = "to love," but _aimer bien_ = "to like."

234 en. See App. V, ii. C.

237 cette grâce, i.e., of being the instrument of our delivery. The statement is of course hypothetical, and the future is used, instead of the conditional, only for greater directness and force.

238 toute votre race, obviously "thou and thy father's house," Book of Esther, iv. 14.

240 assidus à prier is the order.

242 jeûne, from _jejunum_. Cf. our "jejune."

245 "And if I perish, I perish," Book of Esther, iv. 16. _Contente_, now colloquially = our "glad," has here its truest sense of "satisfied."

247 Qu'on s'éloigne. The touch of dignity added to the command by the use of the indefinite pronoun, can hardly be translated. For the following prayer, see Introd. section IV.

259 sert has here its full etymological meaning of "being a slave." Its other meanings are: 2. with _de_, "to serve as," "to be used for," l. 843; 3. with accus. "to serve" a person, a cause, etc., l. 336; 4. with dative, "to be of use" to a person or for a purpose, l. 333.

200 veut, as often, = "seek to." Note that the _de_ before _être_ is not dependent on _peu_, but is the regular preposition introducing an infinitive not at the beginning of a sentence.--For _vouloir_, used as a pseudo-auxiliary, see l. 155, N.

261 Insulter, like _applaudir_, is used with the accus. in a literal, with the dat. in a figurative, sense.

262 Imputer always implies that you charge a person with an _offence_. Here there is a slight hypallage: the offence lies in the fact that the conqueror dares to credit his false gods with his triumph, and not, as the words would literally signify, in that with which he credits them.

263 Note that adjectives at the end of the line are strongly emphatic.

266 Foi means: 1. "faith," l. 256; 2. "loyalty," l. 375; 3. "truth," as here; 4. "promise," l. 1152. If the Jews were annihilated, the Saviour promised by God to the seed of Abraham could not be born to them.

277 où, frequently used for the dat. of relative pron. referring to things.

299 Il fut is elegant for _il y eut_. Cf. l. 477. For the tense, see App. II, ii. B. b.

309 Arracher is "to snatch away," "to pull off" or "up;" _déchirer_ is "to tear into pieces."

332 Note that autrui can never be nominative.

333 Que. See App. IV, 1. A.

347 Ni is almost always followed by _ne_ without _pas_, because _ne_ is only attended by its intensifying particle _pas_ when used as the sole negative in the clause, without any accompanying _rien_, _jamais_, _aucun_, etc. Here, therefore, there should be no _pas_. Its introduction creates a sort of anacoluthon, and throws great stress on the negative.

364 When Pharaoh's host was swallowed up by the Red Sea.

367 paille légère = "chaff."

373 ne . . . que. Cf. l. 13, N.

375 en. See App. V, ii. E.

382 Tout ce . . . de mystères is a construction framed on the analogy of genitives following adverbs of quantity.

386 fait and not _faite_. See App. III.

392 fuit is the present tense because _qui le fuit_ is equivalent to an adjective.

404 The story is that, at the death of Gomates, the candidates to the throne of Persia, unable to settle their rival claims, agreed that he should be king whose horse should neigh first after sunrise, and that Darius won the crown through the wit of his servant who led a mare to the appointed spot in advance. See Herodotus, III. 85-86.

405 idée, by frequent metonymy for _esprit_.

406 Chaldaea was famous for its astronomers, who had fixed the duration of the year, were acquainted with the zodiac, and as early as the middle of the fourth century B.C., already possessed astronomical records extending over 1,900 years. They were also far-famed astrologers, and as such were in great demand as late as the last years of the Roman empire.

415 eut du ciel. Cf. Gray's Elegy: "He gained from heaven, 'twas all he asked," etc.

419 Striking witness is borne to Haman's high position by the flattery paid him by Hydaspes.

426 Tout révère, for _tous révèrent_, for metrical reasons. See App. I, Metre.

430 Traiter de = "to call," always with an unfavorable connotation.

444 fragile, of course, must be translated here "broken."

445 salutaire, here "timely."

449 l'artifice. The definite article is used distributively: = "all artifice."

452 Racine heightens the contrast between Haman's past and present fortunes by imagining him to have been bought for a slave, in boyhood, by a Persian master. This the Bible does not state, although the Rest of the Book of Esther calls him a Macedonian (xvi, 10), but immediately adds "and as a stranger received of us."

454 soutiens de ma puissance. Male children were, and still are, indispensable to prosperity in the East, as the supporters and defenders of the family.

458 atteinte is now usually unfavorable.

459 Mardochée assis, etc. See l. 139, N, for this Latin construction.

462 tandis que. See l. 69, N. _Tant que_ would have been more precise here.

465 est . . . à. The construction is _ad sensum_, as though _sembler_ had been used.

468 Note the use of aller as a pseudo-auxiliary. Cf. l. 155, N.

469 C'est trop peu d'une telle . . . The _de_ in such forms is due to false analogy with the construction in which an infinitive in apposition follows _c'est_, for which see l. 260, N.

477 Il fut. See App. II, ii. B. b.

478 This line, expressive of the multitude of the Jews, heightens the contrast with l. 480.

484 a dû. See l. 166, N.

485-87 I Sam. xv, 7-8: "And Saul smote the Amalekites . . . and he took Agag, the King of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword."

486 vils, a classical adjective = "valueless," "contemptible." Cf. Merch. of Ven. ii., 4: "'tis vile, unless it may be quaintly ordered." The flocks and herds have no value, are contemptible, as adversaries; hence, = "helpless." Cf. l. 522.

493 couleurs, now familiarly used for "false representations." _J'armai_, cf. l. 171.

494 J'interessai . . . etc. "I showed him his glory at stake." Note the tense of _trembla_: = "till he trembled." See App. II, ii. B. a.

502 Cf. Gen. xvi., 12; "his hand shall be against every man, and every man's hand against him."

504 Note Haman's concluding appeal to the greed of human nature. He is a crafty counsellor, as unscrupulous as he is clever.

511 For enfin, see l. 160; for the Latin construction of _le trépas différé_, see l. 139.

519-520 There is here a slight confusion in construction. If a comma preceded _terrible_, _souvent_ would then be regularly dependent on _combien_. But there is no authority for this punctuation, and we must supply a repeated _combien_, thus: _tu sais combien terrible . . . [il est it combien] souvent, etc.

521 à cannot be consequent to _trop_, which always takes _pour_. Tr. "in tormenting me."

523 Que. See App. IV, ii. A.

527 The imperfect for the conditional past, for greater vividness. Cf. "One moment more and he was a dead man" = he would have been . . .

529 veux bien. See l. 232, N. It is condescension on the king's part to make a confession at all.

530. Note that the king views himself as the father of his people: a piece of flattery on Racine's part towards Louis XIV.

533 succès, conformably with its derivation, is here without the usual favorable connotation. Cf. "luck" = "good luck."--_Fureur_ expresses aggressive madness (cf. _ira furor brevis est_), which the king assumes could alone prompt such an attempt.

538 More indirect flattery for Louis XIV.

539 Foi. See l. 266, N.

541 trop = "passing." For superlative use of _si_, cf. 1021.

545 frappe = "impresses."

546 nous = "us" [kings]. See App. I, Hiatus.

547 de = "out of," "among."

548 faire valoir, lit. = "to make to have its full value;" hence, "to set off." Tr. "to show off." _Nous_ is indirect obj.--_Intéressés_, is the opposite of "disinterested."

549 Note that the French says: "there are none who _do_," instead of "there is none who _does_," a plural due to the plural denotation of _en_.

551 Et might well have preceded this second clause, which is parallel to that in l. 550.

553 ["While they are only] too ready . . ."

553-554 Que l'injure échappe à ma vengeance plutôt qu'un si rare bienfait [échappe] à ma reconnaissance.--L'injure = "wrong" here; often = "insult."

555 Supply: "if this service went unrewarded." Cf. Verg. Aen. I, 48-49.

558 Que. See App. IV, ii. A.

563 Et = "Then."--_D'autant moins_ goes closely with following _que_.

569 Que. See App. IV, ii. C.

579 Conseils = "counsels," not "councils."

583-584 An instance of dramatic "irony," by which the poet makes words to be spoken, of which the spectator already knows the untruth.

587 gage is the same word as "wage." Here = "reward." Cf. "the wages of sin is death."

593 Note que, not _à quoi_.

596 This line explains _en vain_ of l. 595.--_Pour vous régler sur eux_ . . . = "that you should be guided by their practice."--_Près de_, here "in comparison with," more usually "auprès de," in accordance with the tendency to use compound forms for secondary meanings. Cf. _mouvoir_ and _émouvoir_; _perdu_ and _éperdu_.

597 neveux, classical for "posterity." For _servir de_, see l. 259, N.

600-612 The construction is:

( _que ce mortel . . . fût mené_;
_j'e voudrais_ ( _que, pour comble . . ., un seigneur . . .
( guidât . . . et criât . . ._

603 orné refers to _coursier_.

604 dans has the force of "through the streets of."

605 comble from Latin _cumulus_, the "heap" that tops a full measure. Hence its connotation is generally, though not always, favorable. E.g., _Combler de faveurs.--Le comble de l'ingratitude est de haïr ses bienfaiteurs.--Le voleur, poursuivi, se réfugia dans les combles du château.--Au comble de la misère_.

607 enfin, see l. 160, N.

614 This line explains ingenuously enough the reason for the statement in l. 613.

616 il refers to preceding _ce_.

619 prétends = "mean."

622 fais--"see."

625-628 The apodosis begins with _Plus j'assure_. . . .

630 en. See App. V, ii. C.

633 sans être attendue = "unsummoned."

635 Je me meurs. _Se mourir_ is either more elevated in style than _mourir_, or = "to die slowly."

637 suis-je pas? The omission of _ne_, the one real negative particle, is only possible as a poetical license, and is rightly very rare.--_Frère_, a classical strong form for "friend."

644 encore un coup, = "once more." _Coup_ enters into many idioms. Cf. Le coup de grâce.--Le coup de l'étrier.--La ville fut prise par un coup de main.--Venez me donner un coup de main.--Il s'est engagé par coup de tête.--Un coup d'essai, de maître, d'éclat.--Un coup de pied.--Après coup.--Coup sur coup.--A coup sûr.--C'est un coup monté.

648 d'effroi depends on _combien_.

649 la foudre, because the king can strike as suddenly and irresistibly as the thunderbolt.

653 étincelle, lit. "sparkles," but here: "flashes."

654 The Parsees, in Asia, worship fire to this day. The king here invokes his gods, the sun and stars.

656 peine is never "physical pain."

661 se pouvoir is only used impersonally, = "to be possible."

676 en. See App. V, ii. C.--_Astres ennemis_ is in accordance with the astrological superstitions of the time.

678 respectable, in its full etymological sense of "worthy of respect."

681 interêt, see l. 57, N.

686 veut = "bids."

690 entre, here "above."

692 grâce devant vos yeux = "favor in your sight."

693 fûtes, in the past definite, expresses that he may have been favorable to her in the past, in a period of time _that has come to an end_, implying "even though he be so no more." See App. II, ii. B. b.

701 qu'on lui fasse entendre = "give him to understand." For dat. _lui_, see App. III, N.

708 clartés, properly "lights;" the plural being, as often is the case, the concrete manifestation of that quality of which the singular is the abstract name. Cf. "charity" and "charities."

713 Que vous semble. See App. IV, i. B.

714 devoir is here used as a pseudo-auxiliary; see l. 155, N,--_L'emporter_, idiomatic for "to win the day." The substantive, for which the fossilized pronoun _le_ stands, is uncertain. Cf. _l'échapper belle_, idiomatic for "to have a narrow escape."

778 Note the force of the tense: "I never [once] admired." See App. II, ii. B. b.

779 Note the difference between _avoir envie de_ and _porter envie a_.

799 errer is never, while "to err" is always used figuratively.

820 en. See App. V, ii. D.

825 rejoindre = "to join." This prefix _re_- is more freely used in French than in English. Cf. _recopier_ = "to copy."

826 See Book of Esther, vi. 13-14, for the few lines on which Racine has built the two strong scenes that follow. Also i. 6, for the description of the grandeur of this "court of the garden of the king's palace."

832 éclaircir is "to restore to its own brightness;" _éclairer_ is "to throw a light from without upon." Cf. l. 177.

835 ressentir, from _re_ + _sentir_. Note the doubling of the "_s_," in order to preserve its sound as in _sentir_. Cf. _ressembler_, _ressource_, _ressusciter_, etc.

aussi cette félicité, i.e., the joy of having been favored as mentioned in l. 834, as well as the pain of the affront.

836 le mal is of course a reference to ll. 618-622; _le bienfait_, to l. 702.

838-843 Racine had great experience of court. See Introd. I.--_Dévorer_, figurative, "to endure in silence." Cf. _dévorer ses larmes_ = "to restrain one's tears."

841 essuyer, fig. = "to put up with something disagreeable," the figure being taken from wiping up spilt liquid, as the way to make the best of a mishap. E.g., _Il essuya un refus--Ce vaisseau a essuyé une tempête--Ce général avait essuyé plusieurs défaites.

842 un outrage endure. For this Latin construction, see l. 139, N.

868 exerçant, "wielding," correctly refers to the speaker, Haman, as the king's minister.

872 ma vie exposée, another Latin construction.

874 Que sert. See App. IV, i. A.

881 le peuple. Cf. l. 56, N.

890 For the spelling _voi_ (which is etymologically correct, seeing that no first person singular ends in "s" in Lat.), see App. I, Rhyme.

892 Cf. Claudian, _In Rufinum_, I. 22, 23.
. . . tolluntur in altum
Ut lapsu graviore ruant.

894 ces bords écartés, i.e., Macedonia. We have already referred to Rest of the Book of Esther, xvi. 10, where Haman is described as a Macedonian.

896-897. See l. 485, N.

898 For enfin, see l. 160, N.

910 Note the skillful way in which the poet shows Haman so possessed with his grief that he can entertain no other thought.

911 ce chagrin, i.e., that betrayed by l. 910.

928 dès longtemps, in prose _depuis longtemps_. See l. 75 N.

934 en, see App. V, ii. C.

935 se resserre = "is wrung."

938 ne le connaître pas. This position of _pas_, after the infinitive, is elegant and emphatic.

946 croître is transitive only in poetry.

955 Suspendez = "A truce to. . . ."

956 puissent is so frequently used to express an exclamative wish, that it usually drops the _que_, which here however is retained.

962 encore, i.e., in addition to that fear.

992 riche is the subst.--_Sous la loi_ goes closely after _gémisse_.

1008 For servir de, see l. 259, N.

1012 camp = "host."

1021 For the virtual superlative _si sage_, cf. l. 541.

1024 Dussiez-vous, = _quand même vous devriez_. This elegant use of the imperf. subj. with subject pronoun inverted (= _quand même_ and the conditional) is generally confined to the auxiliaries, or pseudo-auxiliaries, such as _savoir_, _pouvoir_, _falloir_, etc. In the third person sing. however, where the verb-forms are less unwieldly, other verbs may be so used: it is a matter of euphony.--For the previous offer, see l. 660.

1039 aurait puise. Note this conditional past of hypothetical statement. It always implies that the speaker is unwilling to indorse the statement on his own responsibility.

Jour means: 1. "day;" 2. "day-light;" 3. any "light,"; physical (as in _un abat-jour_) or figurative, e.g., l. 1136; 4. "birth," cf. l. 1277; 5. in plural, "life."

1047 contrée, always = "region."

1050 Here begins a magnificent passage where elevation of language almost reaches inspiration.

1053 qu'on outrage--an adj., "oppressed."

1059 See 2 Kings, xvii. 5-23. Shalmaneser, in 718 B.C., took captive the kingdom of Israel, and Nebuchadnezzar II., the kingdom of Juda in 606. The captivity of the Jews under the Assyrians lasted 70 years, 606-536 B.C., when they obtained leave from Cyrus to return to Palestine. See Introd., section 4, Chron. Table.

1062-3 Isaiah xlv. 1-3: "Thus saith the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him, and I will loose the loins of kings; to open the doors before him, and the gates will not be shut, I will go before thee, and make the rugged places plain: I will break in pieces the doors of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron; and I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places." For the Persian kings of these times, see Introd. section 4. Cyrus reigned about 560-530 B.C.

1068 son temple détruit, another Latin construction.--Nebuchadnezzar II. destroyed the temple of Jerusalem after his capture of the city in 587 B.C.

1073 sortait, a most instructive use of the imperfect; the narrative pauses in the succession of _events_, to lay stress on the happy _state_ now prevailing. See App. II, ii. A.

1075 son fils, Cambyses (reigned 529-522 B.C.).

1077 vous, on the assumption that Ahasuerus is Darius (reigned 521-485 B.C.).

1082 en. See App. V, ii. C.

1086 La Thrace, near enough to Macedonia for the queen's oratorical purposes. Thracia (now N. E. Roumelia), like Scythia (l. 1096), was then a remote and almost unknown region, whose inhabitants were all "barbarians."

1096 sqq. Esther is supremely skillful in laying to the king's credit all that can flatter his pride, and charging all she complains of against this _Scythe impitoyable_: a name all the more hateful to the king as Darius had led an army against the Scythians and lost it (513 B.C.), although Esther puts the expedition in a more flattering light in l. 1116.

1104 Que. See App. IV, i. A.

1123 Saul, first king of the Israelites, was the son of Kish, a Benjamite (I Sam. ix. 1-2), and Mordecai is also stated (Book of Esther ii. 5) to be the son of Kish, a Benjamite.

1127 Impossible to anticipate more skillfully the retort that Mordecai should have honored the king's favorite.

1135 convert de votre pourpre makes the offence almost personal to the king.

1136 For jour, see l. 1039, N.

1141 achever = "to finish." Tr. "come down in thy fullness."

1146 crédit, see l. 171.

1151 vos ennemis aussitôt massacrés, another Lat. construction. These lines are a very skillful revelation of Haman's character; he attempts to bribe the queen by the offer of that which would seem most desirable to himself.

1162 en. See App. V, ii. D.

1168 The king interprets Haman's attitude as an attempt at violence.

1175 repaisse. Cf. Verg. Aen. VIII, 265: nequeunt expleri corda tuendo.

1190 est expiré (on the analogy of _est mort_), for _a expiré_, which would be impossible in classical French poetry. See App. I, Hiatus. The result is more stress on the state, instead of on the action.

1193 Cf. Juvenal, x. 66.
_Seianus ducitur unco
Spectandus_.

1194 "O king, live forever!"

1196 entends, as very frequently, = "understand." Note a third use: "to understand by one's own words," i.e., "to mean."

1213 Je n'ai fait que passer may be translated: "before I had passed by;" lit. "I only passed by," I needed not to wait, in order to witness the short-lived triumph of the wicked.

1214 surprendre = "to take unawares."

1231 couronnée = "on the throne."

1256 se plaît de, now rather _se plaît à_.

1264 Cf. Ps. xviii. 9; "he bowed the heavens also, and came down."

1267 Jeune peuple. Cf. l. 56, N. There is also an allusion to the reconstitution of the Jews as a nation, promised by the king, ll. 1182-1189.

1280 Note that nous is dative. See App. III, N.