Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807–1882). Complete Poetical Works. 1893.
Judas MaccabæusAct V. The Mountains of Ecbatana
S
What place is this?
And yonder mountain range is the Orontes.
Why did I leave it? Why have I been tempted
By coverings of gold and shields and breast-plates
To plunder Elymais, and be driven
From out its gates, as by a fiery blast
Out of a furnace?
Came like a mighty wind, the wind Khamáseen,
And melted us away, and scattered us
As if we were dead leaves, or desert sand.
But what thou hadst not.
Skip like the grasshoppers, am made myself
To skip among these stones.
Thy realm of Syria remains to thee;
That is not lost nor marred.
The splendors of my court, my baths and banquets?
Where are my players and my dancing women?
Where are my sweet musicians with their pipes,
That made me merry in the olden time?
I am a laughing-stock to man and brute.
The very camels, with their ugly faces,
Mock me and laugh at me.
It is not so. If thou wouldst sleep awhile,
All would be well.
And my heart faileth me for very care.
Dost thou remember, Philip, the old fable
Told us when we were boys, in which the bear
Going for honey overturns the hive,
And is stung blind by bees? I am that beast,
Stung by the Persian swarms of Elymais.
These thoughts will be as covered and forgotten
As are the tracks of Pharaoh’s chariot-wheels
In the Egyptian sands.
Again to Antioch! When will that be?
Alas! alas!
S
I am a messenger from Antioch,
Sent here by Lysias.
Of something evil overshadows me.
I am no reader of the Jewish Scriptures;
I know not Hebrew; but my High-Priest Jason,
As I remember, told me of a Prophet
Who saw a little cloud rise from the sea
Like a man’s hand, and soon the heaven was black
With clouds and rain. Here, Philip, read; I cannot;
I see that cloud. It makes the letters dim
Before mine eyes.
The God, Epiphanes.”
Even Lysias laughs at me!—Go on, go on!
Is falling from thee. Since thou hast gone from us
The victories of Judas MaccabÆus
Form all our annals. First he overthrew
Thy forces at Beth-horon, and passed on,
And took Jerusalem, the Holy City.
And then Emmaus fell; and then Bethsura,
Ephrou and all the towns of Galaad,
And Maccabæus marched to Carnion.”
We will drive forward, forward, without ceasing,
Until we come to Antioch. My captains,
My Lysias, Gorgias, Seron, and Nicanor,
Are babes in battle, and this dreadful Jew
Will rob me of my kingdom and my crown.
My elephants shall trample him to dust;
I will wipe out his nation, and will make
Jerusalem a common burying-place,
And every home within its walls a tomb!
The King is ill! What is it, O my Lord?
As if the lightning struck me, or the knife
Of an assassin smote me to the heart.
’T is passed, even as it came. Let us set forward.
We will depart forthwith.
I cannot stand. I am become at once
Weak as an infant. Ye will have to lead me.
Jove, or Jehovah, or whatever name
Thou wouldst be named,—it is alike to me,—
If I knew how to pray, I would entreat
To live a little longer.
Thou shalt not die; we will not let thee die!
Stab after stab. Thou hast no shield against
This unseen weapon. God of Israel,
Since all the other gods abandon me,
Help me. I will release the Holy City,
Garnish with goodly gifts the Holy Temple.
Thy people, whom I judged to be unworthy
To be so much as buried, shall be equal
Unto the citizens of Antioch.
I will become a Jew, and will declare
Through all the world that is inhabited
The power of God!
Bring here the royal litter. We will bear him
Into the camp, while yet he lives.
Into what tribulation am I come!
Alas! I now remember all the evil
That I have done the Jews; and for this cause
These troubles are upon me, and behold
I perish through great grief in a strange land.
Take thou my royal robes, my signet ring,
My crown and sceptre, and deliver them
Unto my son, Antiochus Eupator;
And unto the good Jews, my citizens,
In all my towns, say that their dying monarch
Wisheth them joy, prosperity, and health.
I who, puffed up with pride and arrogance,
Thought all the kingdoms of the earth mine own,
If I would but outstretch my hand and take them,
Meet face to face a greater potentate,
King Death—Epiphanes—the Illustrious![Dies.