ACT ONE
Scene One
JEHOIADA, ABNER
ABNER
1 Yes, to adore the Everlasting One,
I come, observant of this temple’s rite,
To celebrate with you that glorious day
When on Mount Sinai we received the law.
5 How times have changed! Scarce had that day’s return
Been by the sacred trumpet heralded
Than hosts of worshippers streamed through the gates
Into the temple, splendidly festooned;
And all, before the altar ushered in,
10 Bore in their hands the first-fruits of their fields
To offer to the universal God.
The priests were too few for the sacrifice.
Halting this throng, an overweening queen
Has blotted out the glory of these days.
15 The merest handful of the faithful dares
Bring back for us, how faintly, former times.
The others are forgetful of their God,
Or even, hastening to the shrines of Baal –
Initiates of his shameful mysteries –
20 Blaspheme the name their fathers called upon.
I tremble lest Athaliah should decide
To have even you dragged from the altar steps
And wreak her vengeance upon you at last,
Shedding what’s left of a constrained respect.
JEHOIADA
25 Whence comes this dark presentiment today?
ABNER
Can you pursue God’s ways, and go unscathed?
Long has she loathed that rare, unswerving faith
That adds fresh lustre to your diadem.
Long has your deep devotion to the faith
30 Been treated as sedition and revolt.
Athaliah, jealous of outstanding worth,
Hates above all your wife Jehoshabeath.
If you follow in high priest Aaron’s steps,
She is our last king’s sister. Mattan, too,
35 Mattan, that cruel, sacrilegious priest –
Worse than Athaliah even – besieges her:
Mattan, that execrable renegade,
Zealous oppressor of all godly men.
Not only does this Levite, putting on
40 A foreign mitre, minister to Baal.
This temple galls him, and his impiousness
Seeks to destroy the God he has abjured.
To ruin you, no trick is too refined.
Sometimes he pities, often praises you.
45 He even affects a mild, forgiving air,
And thus, cloaking his baleful, dark designs.
Now to the Queen he paints you dangerous;
Now, to assuage her thirst for gold, invents
The tale that somewhere, known to you alone,
50 Treasures amassed by David are concealed.
Lastly the haughty Queen, these two days past,
Seems shrouded in a sombre reverie.
I watched her yesterday, and saw her launch
Glances of fury at the holy place,
55 As if, in that vast edifice, our God
Hid an avenger armed to strike her down.
The more I think, the more I am convinced
That soon her anger will explode on you,
And Jezebel’s bloodthirsty daughter plans
60 To challenge God, even in His sanctuary.
JEHOIADA D
He who can still the raging of the sea
Can also thwart the wicked in their plots.
Hearkening with reverence to His holy will,
I fear God, Abner, and fear God alone.
65 Yet I am grateful that your deep concern
Opens your eyes to all the risks I run.
I see injustice galls you inwardly,
And you are still an Israelite at heart.
Heaven be praised! But can you stay content
With idle virtue and with inward wrath?
70 Can faith that acts not be a faith sincere?
Eight years ago, an impious foreign queen
Usurped King David’s sceptre and his rights,
Wallowed unpunished in our princes’ blood –
75 Foul murderer of the offspring of her son –
And now ‘gainst God raises her wicked arm.
And you, a pillar of this tottering state,
Reared in the camp of King Jehoshaphat,
Commander, too, when Joram took the throne,
80 By your mere presence you dispelled alarm
When Ahaziah’s unexpected death
Scattered his camp as Jehu came in sight.
‘I fear God, and his holy word,’ you say.
Out of my mouth, thus the Lord answers you:
85 ‘Wherefore parade your ardour for my law?
By sterile vows think you to honour me?
What do I gain from all your sacrifice?
Think you I need the blood of goat or ox?
Your dead kings’ blood cries out, and is not heard.
90 Break off all covenants with godlessness;
And from my people’s midst cast out offence.
Then immolate your victims in my name.’
ABNER
What can I do ‘midst the despondent Jews?
Benjamin’s strength is gone; Judah’s effete.
95 The day that saw their royal race extinct
Extinguished all their daringness of old.
‘God has withdrawn himself from us,’ they say.
‘God, once so jealous of the Jews’ fair name,
Beholds unmoved their power now laid low.
100 His patience has at last been wearied, and
No longer do his dreaded hands for us
Terrify man with marvels numberless.
The Ark is mute, and gives no oracles.’
JEHOIADA
When did such miracles abound as now?
105 When did God show his power by greater deeds?
Always will you have eyes that never see?
Ungrateful race! The greatest miracles
Will strike your ears but never move your heart!
Must I recall the wondrous prodigies,
110 Abner, that in our days have come to pass –
The well-known fate of Israel’s tyrants, and
The Lord found true in all His menaces?
Ahab destroyed and drenching with his blood
The field that he by murder had usurped;
115 Then, near that field, Jezebel put to death –
Crushed underfoot beneath her horses’ hooves,
The dogs drinking her wild, inhuman blood,
And her disfigured body torn to shreds;
The horde of lying prophets thunderstruck,
120 The fire from heaven fallen on the sacrifice;
Elijah sovereign of the elements,
The heavens closed by him and turned to brass;
The earth three years with neither rain nor dew;
114 The reference is to Naboth’s vineyard (see I Kings 21, i-xvi).
The dead arising at Elisha’s voice.
125 Behold, then, Abner, by these striking signs
A God the same now as He always was.
He can show forth His glory when He wills,
And He is mindful of His people still.
ABNER
But where are all these honours held in store
130 For David, and for Solomon, his son?
Alas, we hoped that from his blessed race
Would issue forth an endless line of kings,
And over every nation, every tribe,
One would establish his dominion, and
135 Would put an end to discord and to war;
And kings from all the earth would bow to him.
JEHOIADA
But why this doubt in Heaven’s promises?
ABNER
Where is this son of David to be found?
Can heaven itself revive the poor remains
140 Of this old tree, withered even to the roots?
Athaliah killed the child almost at birth.
Can bodies eight years dead burst from the grave?
If in her madness she had been deceived,
If even a drop of our kings’ blood escaped –
JEHOIADA
145 Well then, what would you do?
ABNER
O happy day!
How gladly would I recognize my King,
And at his feet how eagerly our tribes…
But why delude myself with these vain thoughts?
The sole successors of our glorious kings
150 Were hapless Ahaziah and his sons.
By Jehu’s blows I saw the father pierced;
You saw the children by his mother slain.
JEHOIADA
I can reveal no more. But, when the sun
Has made a third of its diurnal round,
155 And when the third hour calls the world to prayer,
Be at the temple with this self-same zeal.
God may reveal by signal benefits
His Word stands fast, and is for ever true.
Leave me. I must prepare for this great day.
160 And see, whitening the temple’s crest, the dawn.
ABNER
I do not understand this benefit?
But yonder comes Jehoshabeath. Let me
Begone, and mingle with the faithful band
Drawn hither by this solemn ritual.
Scene Two
JEHOIADA, JEHOSHABEATH
JEHOIADA
165 The destined hour has come, and I must speak:
Your happy theft can be concealed no more.
The guilty insolence of God’s enemies,
Profiting from this silence, has accused
Too long His promise of deceitfulness.
170 Nay – their success has given their madness wings –
Even on our altar false Athaliah plans
To offer pagan incense unto Baal!
Show the young monarch rescued by your hand,
Reared by us in the shadow of the Lord,
175 He’ll have the valour of our Hebrew kings.
Already he is wise beyond his years.
Before my voice unfolds his destiny,
I’ll offer him to God, the Lord of kings.
Mustering at once our Levites and our priests,
I shall reveal to them their masters’ heir. 180
JEHOSHABEATH
Knows he his name and noble destiny?
JEHOIADA
He answers only to Eliacin,
And thinks himself some child left motherless
185 Whom pitying I was a father to.
JEHOSHABEATH
Alas, what perils did I save him from!
In what fresh dangers will he soon be plunged?
JEHOIADA
You are already troubled, and lose heart?
JEHOSHABEATH
To your wise counsels I commit myself.
The day I snatched him from the jaws of death,
190 I placed his future in your hands alone.
Indeed, fearing the violence of my love,
As much as in me lies I shun the child,
Lest at the sight of him, my unrestrained
Concern betrays my secret with my tears.
195 Indeed, these three whole days and three long nights
I have given up to weeping and to prayer.
Meanwhile, can I now ask you what allies,
What friends stand ready to support our cause?
Abner the brave, can he be counted on?
And has he sworn to rally to his king? 200
JEHOIADA
Abner, though his fidelity is sure,
Does not yet even know we have a king.
JEHOSHABEATH
But whom will you appoint to guard the boy?
Will Obed, Amnon, have that honour, since
205 My father’s favours lavished upon them –
JEHOIADA
They to Athaliah all have sold themselves.
JEHOSHABEATH
Who then will stand against her followers?
JEHOIADA
As I have said, our Levites and our priests.
JEHOSHABEATH
I know that, secretly assembling them,
210 You have farsightedly doubled their ranks.
I know they love you, loathe Athaliah,
And are engaged by solemn oath to serve
This son of David, still to be revealed.
But yet, in spite of their consuming zeal,
215 Can they alone restore our monarch’s cause?
Is zeal enough to compass this great end?
Surely Athaliah at the first report
That Ahaziah’s son is sheltered here,
Will, summoning her mercenary hordes,
220 Surround the temple and break in the doors?
How against them can holy priests suffice,
Who, raising to the Lord unworldly hands,
Can only weep and pray for our misdeeds,
And never have shed aught but victims’ blood?
225 Pierced by their swords, Joash may in their arms…
JEHOIADA
And what of God, the God who fights for us?
God, who protects the orphan’s innocence,
And makes His power in weakest vessels shine;
God who hates tyrants, and who in Jezreel
230 Swore to destroy Ahab and Jezebel,
Who struck their daughter’s husband, Joram, down
And on his son has visited their crimes;
God, whose avenging arm, though now withheld,
235 Is ever poised to strike this impious race.
JEHOSHABEATH
It is this very justice to these kings
I fear for my ill-fated brother’s son.
Who knows if Joash, tainted by their crimes,
Was not even at his birth condemned with them?
If, sparing him despite his odious line,
240 God will show mercy for King David’s sake?
Alas! his plight when heaven showed me him
Returns incessantly to harrow me.
With princes slain the palace floor was strewn.
A dagger in her hand, implacable,
245 Athaliah urged her soldiers on to kill,
And then herself pursued her murderous way.
Suddenly I was struck by Joash, left
For dead. I still behold his nurse distraught
Who at the killers threw herself in vain,
250 And held him sprawling weakly on her breast.
I took him, bathed in blood, into my arms.
My falling tears revived his consciousness,
And, whether it was fear or a caress,
236 Ill-fated brother: Ahaziah. But he was of a different mother from Jehoshabeath.
I felt the pressure of his little arms.
255 Let my affection not prove fatal, Lord!
He only has survived, of David’s line.
Reared in your house and taught to love your law,
He knows no other father than yourself.
If the attack upon a murderous queen,
260 And all its perils, undermines my faith,
If flesh and blood begin to falter, and
Are too much with me in the tears I shed,
Preserve the heir to all your promises
And for his weakness punish me alone.
JEHOIADA
265 Your tears, Jehoshabeath, are free from blame,
But God our Father bids us trust in Him.
Blinded by wrath, He does not visit on
The righteous son a father’s godlessness.
The tiny handful of the faithful Jews
270 Will this same day renew their vows to Him.
Even as the line of David is revered,
Jezebel’s sinful daughter is abhorred.
Joash will touch them by his modesty,
In which the splendour of his birth shines forth;
275 And God, with His own voice supporting us,
Will in His temple speak within their hearts.
Two kings forsworn, in turn, have braved His wrath.
A king must now be placed upon the throne
Who will recall that, by His priests’ own hands,
280 The Lord restored him to his forebears’ throne,
Rescued him from the tomb’s oblivion,
And thus rekindled David’s flickering torch.
But if, O Lord, unworthy of his race,
He’s fated to depart from David’s ways,
285 Let him be stricken like the blossoms when
Rough winds pass over them and they are gone.
But, if this child, obedient to your will,
Shows himself docile to your great designs,
Return the sceptre to the rightful heir;
290 Into my hands deliver all his foes;
Turn the Queen’s counsels into foolishness.
Deign, Lord, on Mattan and on her to set
The seal of blindness and of recklessness –
Those fateful heralds of the fall of kings.
295 Farewell. Time presses. See, your children bring
The daughters of the holy families.
Scene Three
JEHOSHABEATH, ZECHARIAH, SALOMITH,
THE CHORUS
JEHOSHABEATH
Dear Zechariah, go. Do not delay.
Accompany your priestly father’s steps.
Daughters of Levi, young and faithful band,
300 Whom God inflames already with His zeal,
Who have so often come to share my sighs,
My only joy in my despondency,
These garlands on your head, flowers in your hands,
Befitted once our glorious festivals.
305 But, in these days of shame and suffering,
What better offering can there be than tears?
But hark! I hear the sacred trumpet sound.
Soon will the temple doors be opened wide.
While I prepare for the procession, sing
Praise to the Lord you’ve come to glorify. 310
Scene Four
THE CHORUS
FULL CHORUS (sing)
To God belongs the Universe.
Let us for evermore invoke His name!
His empire was before the birth of time.
Let us His benefits proclaim.
SOLOIST
315 In vain the evildoers’ horde
Would silence those who praise the Lord.
Imperishable is His name.
Day speaks to day His glory and His power.
To God belongs the universe sublime.
320 Let us His benefits proclaim.
FULL CHORUS
To God belongs the universe sublime.
Let us His benefits proclaim.
SOLOIST
The flowers display His hues as they unfold.
He makes each fruit mature aright;
325 Nor in due time does He withhold
The heat of day, the coolness of the night;
And the field gives them back a hundredfold.
SECOND SOLOIST
He bids the sun warm nature with its rays,
And every day its light shines forth again.
330 But His pure law, His sacred ways
Are far His richest gift to men.
THIRD SOLOIST
Mount Sinai, keep the memory of that day,
August and solemn to the end of time,
When on the summit ringed with fire,
335 Wrapped in a cloud, the Lord appeared
And let His radiance shine on mortal gaze.
Wherefore this lightning, why these flames,
Torrents of smoke and stirrings in the air,
The thunder, and the trumpets’ blare?
340 Was it to bring about earth’s overthrow
Or, to its vast foundations far below,
Was it to lay its centre bare?
FOURTH SOLOIST
He came to tell the children of the Jews
Of the immortal splendour of His laws;
345 And to command this blesséd race
To love Him with an everlasting love.
FULL CHORUS
350 O divine, O enthralling law!
O graciousness that knows no bounds!
How sweet it is, how many grounds
To pledge Him our allegiance and our love!
FIRST SOLOIST
He saved our fathers from a cruel yoke,
Fed them with manna in the desert waste.
He gives His laws; He gives Himself to us.
He bids us love Him for such benefits.
CHORUS
355 O graciousness that knows no bounds!
FIRST SOLOIST
He made the stormy seas divide for them,
And from the dry rock made the water gush.
He gives His laws; he gives Himself to us.
He bids us love Him for such benefits.
FULL CHORUS
360 O divine, O enthralling law!
How sweet it is, how many grounds
To pledge Him our allegiance and our love!
A SOLOIST
You who know nothing but a servile fear,
Ingrates, can such a God not conquer you?
365 Is it, then, for your hearts so difficult,
Is it so hard to love?
The slave grovels before the tyrant’s whip,
But love is children’s birthright. You would wish
The Lord to lavish kindnesses on you,
370 And yet withhold your love?
FULL CHORUS
O divine, O enthralling law!
O graciousness that knows no bounds!
How sweet it is, how many grounds
375 To pledge Him our allegiance and our faith!
Scene One
JEHOSHABEATH, SALOMITH, THE CHORUS
JEHOSHABEATH
375 Daughters, it is enough. Now cease your songs,
For it is time to join in public prayer.
Now it’s for us to celebrate this day,
And in our turn appear before the Lord.
Scene Two
JEHOSHABEATH, ZECHARIAH, SALOMITH,
THE CHORUS
JEHOSHABEATH
But what is this, my son? Why are you back?
Where are you running, pale and out of breath? 380
ZECHARIAH
O mother!
JEHOSHABEATH
What?
ZECHARIAH
The temple is profaned.
JEHOSHABEATH (starts back)
ZECHARIAH
Abandoned is the altar of the Lord.
JEHOSHABEATH
I tremble. What has happened? Quick, explain.
ZECHARIAH
My father, the high priest, as wills the law,
385 Already to our God who feeds us all
Had offered up the first new harvest loaves,
And then held up to Him in blood-stained hands
The reeking entrails of the sacrifice.
Standing beside him, young Eliacin
390 Like me was serving in a linen robe.
During this time the priests, with victims’ blood,
Sprinkled the altar and the worshippers.
A startled hum arose, and people’s eyes And minds were suddenly diverted to
395 A woman – I blaspheme in naming her – A woman. Yes. It was the Queen herself.
JEHOSHABEATH (shudders)
ZECHARIAH
Into a porch reserved for men alone
She entered, arrogant, with head erect,
And even would have passed beyond the bounds
400 That mark the porch where priests alone may go.
The worshippers all panic-stricken fled.
My father… How his eyes with anger glowed!
Moses to Pharaoh seemed less terrible.
‘Hence, Queen!’ he cried, ‘from this dread sanctuary!
405 An impious woman has no place herein.
Brave not the majesty of the Living God.’
The Queen, darting fierce glances at the priest,
Opened her mouth to utter blasphemy.
I know not if the angel of the Lord
410 Appeared to her bearing a shining sword.
But in her mouth her tongue that instant froze,
And all her boldness seemed to drain from her.
Her eyes, affrighted, could not look away;
Her gaze was fixed on young Eliacin.
JEHOSHABEATH
415 What! did they let her see Eliacin?
ZECHARIAH
We both of us were looking at the Queen;
And equal horror fell upon our hearts.
But in a trice the priests enclosed us round.
They hurried us away: I know no more,
420 And came to tell you of this fearful scene.
JEHOSHABEATH
Ah! she would wrest him from us. Be assured.
That is what brought her raging to the shrine.
Perhaps even now the boy for whom these tears…
Remember David, Lord! who see my grief.
SALOMITH
425 Who is it then for whom you shed these tears?
ZECHARIAH
Is there some danger to Eliacin?
SALOMITH
Has he drawn down the anger of the Queen?
ZECHARIAH
From a poor orphan what is there to fear?
JEHOSHABEATH
Ah! it is she. We must avoid her. Flee.
Scene Three
ATHALIAH, ABNER, HAGAR,
ATHALIAH’S RETINUE
HAGAR
430 What makes you linger here, Your Majesty?
Here everything irks you and jars on you.
Abandon, pray, this temple to its priests;
Flee from this tumult. In your palaces
Let peace return to your unquiet heart.
ATHALIAH
435 I cannot leave. You see my helplessness –
Go, send for Mattan. Tell him to make haste.
Happy if by his succour I can find
The peace I crave for and that flees me still.
(sits)
Scene Four
ATHALIAH, ABNER, ATTENDANTS
ABNER
Forgive me, Queen, if I dare speak for him.
440 Jehoiada’s fervour should not cause surprise.
Our God has so commanded for all time.
The Lord traced out His temple and His shrine,
Entrusted sacrifice to Aaron’s sons,
Assigned the Levites place and function, and
445 Above all ordered their posterity
Never to follow after other gods.
What! you, the wife and mother of our kings,
Are you so much a stranger in our midst?
Do you not know our laws? And must I now…?
450 Here is your Mattan. I will take my leave.
ATHALIAH
Your presence, Abner, here is still required.
Forget Jehoiada’s rash audacity
And all this superstititious nonsense which
To other nations bars your temple’s gates.
455 A far more pressing subject stirs my fears.
I know that, reared in arms from childhood’s days,
Abner is loyal, rendering to God
And also to his kings what is their due.
Stay.
Scene Five
MATTAN, ATHALIAH, ABNER, ETC.
MATTAN
Mighty Queen! is this your place? What cares
460 Assail you now, what terrors chill your heart?
What seek you here, among your enemies?
Can you set foot on this unhallowed ground?
Have you forgotten your unbounded hate –
ATHALIAH
Each one of you, lend an attentive ear.
465 I do not mean to summon up the past,
Nor to account for blood that I have shed.
What I have done, Abner, I had to do.
I do not take for judge a reckless mob,
Whatever in its insolence it says.
470 Heaven itself has justified my deeds.
My power, based on resounding victories,
Commands profound respect from sea to sea.
Through me, deep calm reigns in Jerusalem.
No longer does the Jordan see its banks
475 By nomad Arabs or proud Philistines
Laid waste, as in your kings’ time, constantly.
The Syrian treats me as a queen and friend.
And, last, the base oppressor of my house,
Who was to wreak his barbarous will on me –
480 Jehu, proud Jehu, in Samaria
Trembles. Beset on every side by foes
Roused by my art against this murderer,
He leaves me here, unchallenged sovereign.
I long enjoyed in peace my statecraft’s fruits.
485 But now for some days an obsessing care
Has undermined this my prosperity.
A dream (should I be worried by a dream?)
Feeds an anxiety that gnaws my heart.
I shun it everywhere: it haunts me still.
490 ’Twas in the horror of an endless night.
My mother Jezebel appeared to me,
Decked out as on the day she met her death.
Her trials had not crushed her spirit yet.
Indeed her face, still bright with borrowed charms,
495 Painted, adorned, sought vainly to repair
The unrelenting outrage of the years.
‘Tremble,’ she said, ‘who followed in my steps.
The cruel Jewish God over you too
Prevails. You’ll fall into his dreaded arms,
500 My daughter.’ Uttering these fearful words,
Over my bed her shade appeared to bend.
I held out both my hands to welcome her,
But found them clutching at a loathsome mess
Of mangled flesh and bones dragged in the mire,
505 Of blood-stained shreds and hideous, tattered limbs,
That ravenous dogs tore from each other’s jaws.
ABNER
God!
ATHALIAH
In this turmoil there appeared to me
A stripling covered in a gleaming robe,
Like those in which the Hebrew priests are clad.
510 My drooping spirits at his sight revived.
But while, recovering from this baleful shock,
I gazed upon his gentle, modest air,
Sudden I felt the sharp and deadly steel
Plunged by the villain deep into my heart.
515 This mixture of such strange and diverse things
May seem the work of mere coincidence.
I myself for a time, shamed of my fear,
Rejected it as sombre fantasy.
But yet by this same vision haunted still,
520 Twice as I slept it came to me in dreams.
And twice my harrowed eyes were visited
By the same child ready to pierce my heart.
Weary at last of these obsessing fears,
I was about to offer prayer to Baal,
525 And seek repose upon his altar’s steps.
What cannot fear do to a mortal’s heart!
Driven by a whim into the temple of
The Jews, I thought I might appease their God.
I felt that presents might assuage his wrath,
530 And mollify this God, whoe’er he be.
Pontiff of Baal, forgive my weakness. For
I entered. People fled. The sacrifice
Stopped. The high priest, enraged, advanced on me.
Even as he spoke to me, O dread surprise!
535 I saw the very child that threatened me,
Just as depicted in my frightening dream.
I saw him. The same air! the same white robe!
His walk, his eyes, his features, all the same!
Walking beside the high priest, it was he.
540 But soon the boy was spirited away.
That is the problem that detains me here
On which I wanted to consult you both.
What, Mattan, does this prodigy portend?
MATTAN
Fearful the dream and what it signifies!
ATHALIAH
545 But, Abner, you have seen this fateful child.
What is he like? Of what race? Of what tribe?
ABNER
Two boys were at the altar ministering.
One of them is the priest Jehoiada’s son.
The other, I know not.
MATTAN
Why hesitate?
550 You must secure possession of them both.
You know how I respect Jehoiada, and
That I do not seek vengeance for my wrongs,
That in my counsels equity prevails.
But yet, would he even for a moment let
555 The offender live, were it his only son?
ABNER
But what crime can a child be guilty of?
MATTAN
Heaven shows him with a dagger in his hand.
Heaven, wise and just, never does aught in vain.
What need you more?
ABNER
But, acting on a dream,
560 Are we to stain our swords deep in his blood?
You know not of what father he is born,
Or who he is.
MATTAN
He’s feared. Let that suffice.
If of illustrious parents he is sprung,
His glorious rank should hasten on his doom.
565 If fate has placed him in the vulgar throng,
What matter if base blood at random flows?
Is such a halting justice fit for kings?
Often their safety hangs on prompt despatch;
We hamper them by being overnice.
Those who are suspect to them are condemned. 570
ABNER
Shame, Mattan, shame! What language for a priest!
I, bred admidst the slaughter of the wars,
The strict executor of kings’ decrees,
I raise my voice to plead the wretches’ cause.
575 And you who owe to them a father’s love,
You, minister of peace in times of wrath,
Cloaking your spite in spurious piety,
Blood flows too slowly for your liking. Queen,
You ordered me to speak without pretence.
580 What, after all, is this great cause for fear?
A dream, a child that your prejudging eye
Thought, perhaps wrongly, that it recognized.
ATHALIAH
It may well be. Perhaps I was deceived.
Perhaps I was beguiled by empty dreams.
585 But let us look more closely at this child.
We must at leisure scrutinize his face.
Let them be brought before me, both of them.
ABNER
I fear –
ATHALIAH
You hesitate to do my will?
Wherefore this curious unwillingness?
590 It might inspire me with the strangest doubts.
Let them be brought here by Jehoshabeath.
I can, when I desire speak as a queen.
Your priests, if you would know the truth, have
grounds
For being gratified at my restraint.
595 I know the lengths that their unbridled tongues
Go to attack my conduct and my power.
Yet still they live, and still their temples stand.
My patience, though, is almost at an end.
Let the high priest curb his fanaticism,
600 And not provoke me by a fresh affront.
Go.
Scene Six
ATHALIAH, MATTAN, ETC.
MATTAN
Now I can speak out at last. And now
I can reveal the full, unvarnished truth.
Some budding monster in this temple lurks.
Ah! Queen, wait not until this stormcloud bursts.
605 Abner was with Jehoiada ere the dawn.
You know how much he loves his Jewish kings.
Perhaps Jehoiada wishes in their place
To set the child with whom heaven threatens you,
Be he his son or not.
ATHALIAH
Yes, you unseal
610 My eyes. I see what heaven warns me of.
But I must be relieved of all my doubts.
A child’s unlikely to conceal his thoughts;
A single word reveals a grand design.
Let me, dear Mattan, see him, question him.
615 You meanwhile go, and smoothly, silently,
Have all my Tyrian soldiers spring to arms.
Scene Seven
JOASH, JEHOSHABEATH, ATHALIAH,
ZECHARIAH, ABNER, SALOMITH,
TWO LEVITES, THE CHORUS, ETC.
JEHOSHABEATH (to the two Levites)
O! you, on these two boys so dear to us,
Ministers of the Lord, keep careful watch.
ABNER
(to Jehoshabeath)
Be reassured. I will take charge of them.
ATHALIAH
620 The more I think, the more I look at him,
It’s he. Again black horror grips my heart.
Wife of Jehoiada, is this boy your son?
JEHOSHABEATH
Who, he?
ATHALIAH
Yes, he.
JEHOSHABEATH
No, he is not my son.
This boy is he.
ATHALIAH
Who is your father, child?
625 Tell me, reply.
JEHOSHABEATH
The heavens until this day –
ATHALIAH
And why so eager to reply for him?
It is for him to speak.
JEHOSHABEATH
He is so young.
What explanations can you ask of him?
ATHALIAH
His is the age of innocence. His years
630 Have not yet learned to falsify the truth.
Let him speak out on all that touches him.
JEHOSHABEATH (aside)
Deign, Lord, to place your wisdom on his lips.
ATHALIAH
What is your name?
JOASH
My name’s Eliacin.
ATHALIAH
Your father?
JOASH
I’m an orphan, so they say,
635 And thrown into the arms of God since birth.
I never knew who my real parents were.
ATHALIAH
You have no parents?
JOASH
They abandoned me.
ATHALIAH
How, and since when?
JOASH
Since ever I was born.
ATHALIAH
Do you not know at least your fatherland?
JOASH
640 This temple is my home. I know naught else.
ATHALIAH
Where do they say they chanced upon you first?
JOASH
Midst cruel wolves ready to fall on me.
ATHALIAH
Who brought you to this place?
JOASH
A woman who,
Unknown and nameless, was not seen again.
ATHALIAH
645 Who in your earliest years took care of you?
JOASH
When did God ever let his children starve?
The Lord to the young ravens gives their food.
The whole of nature shares His benefits.
Each day I call on Him; His father’s care
650 Nourishes me from His altar’s offerings.
ATHALIAH
What miracle disturbs and baffles me?
The sweetness of his voice, his youth, his charm
Make hatred imperceptibly give way
To what? to feeling pity? Can that be?
ABNER
655 This is the fearful enemy, O Queen!
The falseness of your lying dreams is clear,
Unless the fatal blow you trembled at
Is but the pity that dismays you so.
ATHALIAH (to Joash and Jehoshabeath)
You’re leaving?
JEHOSHABEATH
You have heard his story. He
660 Might try your patience by a longer stay.
ATHALIAH
No, no. Come back. What is your daily task?
JOASH
I worship God; His laws are taught to me,
And in His sacred book I learn to read.
Already I’ve begun to write it out.
ATHALIAH
665 What says this law?
JOASH
God wishes to be loved.
Blasphemy of His name He will avenge.
He is a father to the fatherless,
Withstands the proud, and smites the murderer.
ATHALIAH
I see. But all the people living here,
670 What do they do?
JOASH
They praise and bless the Lord.
ATHALIAH
Does God wish to be worshipped all the time?
JOASH
All that’s profane is banished from His shrine.
ATHALIAH
What are your pleasures then?
JOASH
Sometimes I hand
The high priest at the altar incense, or
675 Listen to God’s unbounded greatness sung,
And see the solemn order of His rites.
ATHALIAH
What! this is all you have to pass the time?
I pity any child so stern a fate!
Come to my palace. See my splendour there.
JOASH
680 I, and forget God’s gracious benefits?
ATHALIAH
No, I would never force you to forget.
JOASH
You do not pray to Him.
ATHALIAH
But you may pray.
JOASH
But I would see another worshipped too.
ATHALIAH
I would serve my God. You can serve your own.
685 Both Gods are powerful.
JOASH
You must fear mine.
He is the only God, and yours is nought.
ATHALIAH
Pleasures will crowd on you when you’re with me.
JOASH
The wicked’s bliss like water flows away.
ATHALIAH
Who are the wicked?
JEHOSHABEATH
Ah! forgive him, Queen.
690 A child–
ATHALIAH (to Jehoshabeath)
I like the way you teach the boy.
In short, Eliacin, you’ve won my heart.
You are, it’s clear, no ordinary child.
You see, I am a queen. I have no heir.
Discard this lowly robe and calling. Come,
695 You may partake of my unbounded wealth.
This very day, try out my promises.
At table, everywhere, sit by my side,
And I will treat you like a child of mine.
JOASH
Of yours?
ATHALIAH
Yes. You are silent?
JOASH
What a father
700 I would leave, and for…
ATHALIAH
Well?
JOASH
For what a mother!
ATHALIAH (to Jehoshabeath)
His memory is good. In all his words,
I recognize Jehoiada’s hand and yours.
This is how you corrupt this candid youth,
And put to use the peace I leave you in.
705 You cultivate their fury and their hate.
Only with horror do you speak my name.
JEHOSHABEATH
Can we conceal the tale of our mishaps?
These the world knows, and these you glory in.
ATHALIAH
Yes, my just fury – I am proud of it –
710 Avenged my parents on my progeny.
I saw my father and my brother slain,
Down from the palace heights my mother hurled,
And in one day slaughtered at one fell blow
(A sight of horror) four score sons of kings.
715 And why? Some obscure prophets to avenge,
Whose wild and lawless ravings she had curbed.
And I, unfeeling daughter, craven queen,
Slave of a coward’s fitful pity, I,
Should I not have returned to this blind rage,
720 At least murder for murder, crime for crime,
And treated all your David’s issue, even
As you did Ahab’s poor, ill-starred remains?
Where would I be, had I not steeled myself
And stifled my maternal tenderness;
725 And if my hand, shedding my own son’s blood,
Had not put down your plots by one bold stroke?
And thus, in short, your God, implacable,
Between our houses broke all amity.
Yes, I loathe David’s line; and that king’s sons,
730 Though of my blood, are yet no kin of mine.
JEHOSHABEATH
All has gone well for you. But God will judge.
ATHALIAH
This God, your only refuge, for so long,
What will His prophecies avail you now?
Let him but give you this much-promised king,
735 This son of David’s line in whom you hope.
We’ll meet again. Farewell. I leave content.
I wished to see. I saw.
ABNER (to Jehoshabeath)
True to my pledge,
What you entrusted to me I restore.
Scene Eight
JEHOIADA, JEHOSHABEATH, JOASH,
ZECHARIAH, SALOMITH, LEVITES, THE CHORUS
JEHOSHABEATH (to Jehoiada)
Heard you this overweening Queen, my lord?
JEHOIADA
740 Yes, I heard everything, and pitied you.
These Levites at my side stood all prepared
To aid you, and resolved to die with you.
(to Joash, embracing him)
May God watch o’er you whose unflinching heart
Has just borne witness to His noble name.
745 Abner, I thank you for your services.
Recall the hour Jehoiada waits for you.
And we who, by this impious murderous Queen,
Have had our eyes defiled, our prayers disturbed,
Let us go in, and, with the blood I shed,
750 Wash even the marble that her feet have trod.
Scene Nine
THE CHORUS
ONE OF THE MAIDENS OF THE CHORUS
What star upon us shines today?
What will this wondrous child grow up to be?
For he defies her arrogant display
Of riches: nor is led astray
755 By its imposing, dangerous spell.
SECOND MAIDEN
While everyone Baal’s altar seeks,
Rushing to worship at his shrine,
A child, undaunted, publishes
That God alone’s divine,
760 And speaks even as Elijah spoke
Before this other Jezebel.
THIRD MAIDEN
Who will reveal to us your origin?
Dear child, are you some holy prophet’s son?
FOURTH MAIDEN
Thus, one beheld the pleasing Samuel
765 Growing within the temple of the Lord
As he became the Hebrews’ oracle.
May you like him, too, comfort Israel.
FIFTH MAIDEN (sings)
O let him now rejoice,
The child loved by the Lord,
770 Who early hears His voice
And whom God has instructed in His word!
Reared far from the world, he is adorned
From birth with every excellence.
The wicked by him scorned
775 Can never taint his innocence.
FULL CHORUS
Blesséd, blesséd the child,
Whom God instructs and keeps still undefiled.
FIFTH MAIDEN
As in a hidden vale confined,
On the banks of a crystal stream
780 Grows, sheltered from the cold north wind,
A lily, nature’s loveliest dream,
Reared far from the world, he is adorned
From birth with every excellence.
The wicked by him scorned
785 Can never taint his innocence.
FULL CHORUS
Blesséd a thousand times,
The child God makes obedient to His laws.
A SOLOIST
Ah! Lord, how virtue at its birth
Must vanquish perils and must walk unsure.
790 A soul that seeks you, and that would be pure,
Must battle endlessly.
How many enemies make war on it.
Your saints, God! whither can they fly?
795 The sinners cover the earth.
A SOLOIST
Palace of David, city that he loved,
And famous mount where God Himself has dwelt,
How have you drawn heaven’s anger down on you!
Zion, dear Zion, can you suffer her,
An impious foreigner,
Seated alas! on the throne of your kings? 800
FULL CHORUS
Zion, dear Zion, can you suffer her,
An impious foreigner,
Seated alas! on the throne of your kings?
THE SAME SOLOIST (continues)
Instead of the enchanting songs
805 In which King David poured his raptures forth
And blessed his God, his Father, and his Lord,
Zion, dear Zion, can you suffer her
And the god of this impious foreigner
810 Who now blasphemes the name your kings adored?
A SOLOIST
How long, O Lord! how long must we behold
The evildoers rise against your rule?
Even in your holy place they challenge you.
They call demented those that worship you.
How long, O Lord! how long, must we behold
815 The evildoers rise against your rule?
A SOLOIST
This uncouth virtue, what does it avail?
They say. Such varied and such soft delight
Why do you flee? Your God can do
Nothing to help you in your fight.
A SOLOIST
820 Let us make merry, cry these evil ones.
Flitting from flower to flower, from joy to joy,
Let us each hour employ.
Mad is the man who in the future trusts.
How many fleeting years are left to us?
825 Let us make haste; enjoy life while you may.
Will we be here tomorrow, who can say?
FULL CHORUS
Let them, O Lord! tremble and cry with fear,
These wretched sinners who will ne’er behold
Your holy city splendid.
830 But we to whom, Lord, you unfold
Your wisdom, we revere
Your greatness that endures till time is ended.
A SOLOIST
What will remain of all these vain delights
In which their souls are plunged. Only a dream,
835 Which they will recognize
With terrified surprise.
And, while the poor man finds release
In the full sweetness of your peace,
They will drink deeply from the bitter cup
840 That you’ll present on the dread day of wrath
To all the guilty race.
O grim awakening!
O dream that leaves no trace!
Dangerous misreckoning!
Scene One
MATTAN, NABAL, THE CHORUS
MATTAN
845 Young maidens, go, and tell Jehoshabeath
Mattan in secret would have speech with her.
ONE OF THE MAIDENS OF THE CHORUS
Mattan! May you confound him, Lord of heaven!
NABAL
They scatter – look! – and flee without a word.
MATTAN
Let us go in.
Scene Two
ZECHARIAH, MATTAN, NABAL
ZECHARIAH
Stop! whither are you bound?
850 Beyond this point beware lest you advance.
It is the holy minister’s abode,
And from it all profane are barred by law.
Whom do you seek? My father on this day
Flees the idolater’s defiling sight.
855 And even now, prostrate before the Lord,
My mother in this duty is absorbed.
MATTAN
My son, be not dismayed. For we shall wait.
It is your mother that I wish to see.
860 I come here with an order from the Queen.
Scene Three
MATTAN, NABAL
NABAL
Their very children have their reckless pride.
But at this juncture what’s the Queen in mind?
Whence this confusion in her purposes?
Offended by Jehoiada’s insolence,
And in a dark dream threatened by a child,
865 She was about to immolate that priest,
And in this shrine at last place Baal and you.
Already you had told me of your joy,
And I had hopes to share in this rich prey.
What makes her so infirm of purpose?
MATTAN
Friend,
870 These last two days she has not been herself.
She is no more that bold, clear-sighted Queen,
Towering above her timorous woman’s sex,
Who fell upon her startled enemies
And never let the crucial moment pass.
875 Fear of a vain remorse unnerves her will.
She drifts; she wavers. In a word, she is
A woman. I had filled her heart with gall.
Already, stunned by heaven’s menaces,
Herself, entrusting me with her revenge,
880 Had told me urgently to call her guards.
But whether, brought before her, this same child,
Abandoned by his parents, so it’s said,
Had lessened the alarm her dream had caused,
Or whether he had cast a spell on her,
885 I found her wrath half-hearted and unsure,
Deferring vengeance till another day.
All her plans seemed to war among themselves.
‘I’ve had inquiries made about this child,’
I told her. ‘Now they vaunt his ancestry.
890 Jehoiada shows him to the malcontents,
Makes skilful use of lying oracles,
Presents him to the Jews as if he were
Another Moses.’ At these words she flushed.
Never did lie strike home more speedily.
895 ‘Must I repine in this uncertainty?
Enough,’ said she, ‘enough of inner strife.
Convey this order to Jehoshabeath.
The fires will soon be lit; the swords be drawn.
Nothing can save their temple from its doom
900 Unless this child’s a hostage for their word.
NABAL
Well, for a child whom they know nothing of,
Whom chance perhaps has thrown into their arms,
Will they behold their temple overgrown –
MATTAN
The priest’s the most inflexible of men.
905 Ere he deliver over to my hands
A child he consecrated to his God,
You’ll see Jehoiada face the grimmest death.
And their attachment to the child is clear.
If I have understood the Queen aright,
910 The priest knows more about him than he says.
Whoever he may be, he’ll prove their doom.
They will withhold him. I will do the rest;
And hope at last avenging fire and sword
915 Will free me from this odious temple’s sight.
NABAL
What can inspire in you so fierce a hate?
Is it the fervour that you feel for Baal?
I – as you know, of Ishmael’s stock – I serve
Neither the God of Israel nor Baal.
MATTAN
Can you suppose that such unthinking zeal
920 Can blind me to a paltry image, to
A fragile piece of wood that on its shrine
Daily the worms devour, despite my aid?
Born as a minister to this temple’s God,
Who knows but I would still be serving Him,
925 If love of greatness and the thirst for power
Could be confined within His narrow yoke.
What need I, Nabal, recapitulate
My famous quarrel with Jehoiada when
I battled with him for the censer’s prize,
930 My intrigues, struggles, tears, and my despair?
Vanquished by him, I took another line,
And gave my soul entirely to the court.
By slow degrees I gained the ear of kings,
And soon I rose to be their oracle.
935 I read their heart; I flattered their caprice.
I strewed with flowers the edge of the abyss;
Nothing was sacred to me but their whim.
My judgement veered with every word of theirs.
Just as Jehoiada’s stark austerity
940 Grated upon their pleasure-loving ear,
They were enthralled by my dexterity,
Concealing from their eyes the baleful truth,
Putting a fair complexion on their lusts,
And above all lavish with wretches’ blood.
945 Athaliah built a temple in the end
To the new god that she had introduced.
Jerusalem wept at this outrage, and
The Levites’ band in consternation raised
Blood-curdling wails that rent the firmament.
950 I alone, setting an example to
The timorous Jews, welcomed this pagan move.
Thus did I earn the triple crown of Baal,
And, striking terror in my rival’s heart,
With the tiara on my brow I walked
955 His equal. At the height of glory, yet,
The nagging memory of the God I left
Still casts a lingering terror on my soul.
That is what stokes my raging fury’s fires.
Happy if, wreaking vengeance on His shrine,
960 At last I prove His hate of no avail.
And, amidst ruins, ravages and dead,
Lose my remorse by dint of violence.
But here’s Jehoshabeath.
Scene Four
JEHOSHABEATH, MATTAN, NABAL
MATTAN
Sent by the Queen,
To bring back calm and to dispel your hate,
965 If I now turn to you, in whom heaven placed
So mild a soul, Princess, be not perturbed.
A rumour I suspect of being false,
Confirming warnings she received in dreams,
Was opening the vials of her wrath
970 On the high priest, accused of dangerous plots.
I do not wish to vaunt my services.
Jehoiada is, I know, unjust to me.
But we must render good for evil. Thus,
I come to you laden with words of peace.
975 Live. Celebrate your feastdays undisturbed.
She wants a pledge of your obedience, though.
It is – I tried in vain to put her off –
It is the orphan child she says she saw.
JEHOSHABEATH
Eliacin!
MATTAN
I am somewhat ashamed.
980 She makes too much, perhaps, of a mere dream.
But you proclaim yourselves her mortal foes
Unless this child is given to me at once.
985 The Queen, impatient, waits for your reply.
JEHOSHABEATH
This is the peace she sends you to announce!
MATTAN
Can you, even for a moment, hesitate?
Is peace by this compliance dearly bought?
JEHOSHABEATH
Strange would it be if now, discarding guile,
You overcame your innate wickedness;
If the deviser of such evil deeds
Could be the author of the slightest good. 990
MATTAN
Why this complaining? Have we come in wrath
To wrench your Zechariah from your arms?
Who is this other child so dear to you?
I too find this attachment curious.
995 Is he for you a treasure of such price?
Is he a heaven-sent deliverer?
Think well, for your refusal may confirm
A rumour that already is abroad.
JEHOSHABEATH
What rumour?
MATTAN
That the child’s of noble birth
1000 And the high priest has great designs for him.
JEHOSHABEATH
And since this rumour fans your anger’s fire –
MATTAN
It is for you to show me I am wrong.
I know that you, implacably opposed
To lying, would give up your very life
1005 If to continue living were to cost
A single syllable against the truth.
Have you no clue to the boy’s origin?
Does utter darkness, then, enfold his race?
And you yourself, do you not know his stock,
1010 Or from whose hands Jehoiada took him? Speak.
I’m listening and shall take you at your word.
Princess, do honour to the God you serve.
JEHOSHABEATH
Ungodly priest! how dare you thus to name
A God you teach your hearers to blaspheme.
1015 How can your lips bear witness to His truth,
You, sitting in the seat of pestilence,
Where falsehood reigns and spreads its poison, you,
Reared in imposture and in treachery?
Scene Five
JEHOIADA, JEHOSHABEATH, MATTAN, NABAL
JEHOIADA
Where am I? Is not this the priest of Baal?
1020 Daughter of David, can you speak to him?
You let him speak to you, and do not fear
That from the wide abyss beneath his feet
Will issue flames that straight will burn you up,
And that these walls will fall and crush you both?
1025 What does he want, this enemy of God,
Who has the impudence to foul this air?
MATTAN
How like Jehoiada is this violence!
But he should show more prudence, and respect
A queen, nor offer outrage to the man
1030 Whom she has deigned to choose as messenger.
JEHOIADA
Well then, what baleful tidings does she send,
And what the ghastly order brought by you?
MATTAN
I have informed your wife of the Queen’s will.
JEHOIADA
Get thee behind me, impious fiend! Go, fill
1035 Beyond the brim the cup of horror. God
Prepares to join you to the race forsworn –
Abiran, Dathan, Doeg, Achitophel.
The dogs to whom he threw down Jezebel,
Waiting until his wrath descends on you,
Are at the door and clamour for their prey. 1040
MATTAN (disconcerted)
Before the dusk, you’ll see which of us two
Will be – Let’s leave.
NABAL
But whither do you stray?
What wild confusion stuns your troubled mind?
This is your way.
Scene Six
JEHOIADA, JEHOSHABEATH
JEHOSHABEATH
The storm’s about to break.
1045 The frenzied Queen demands Eliacin.
Already, people have begun to pierce
The mystery of his birth, and your designs.
His father was by Mattan all but named.
JEHOIADA
Who can have told Mattan the secret? Who?
1050 Did your confusion not disclose too much?
JEHOSHABEATH
I strained my every nerve to master it.
Meanwhile, believe me, danger is at hand.
Let us preserve this child for happier times,
And, while the wicked plot among themselves,
1055 Before he is surrounded, snatched from us,
Let us conceal him for a second time.
The gates, the roads are open to him still.
Must we transport him to the desert’s waste?
I am prepared. I know a secret way,
1060 By which, unnoticed and invisible,
Crossing with him the torrent Kidron, I
Can reach the desert where King David once
In tears, seeking like us safety in flight,
Avoided his rebellious son’s pursuit.
1065 Lions and bears are far less terrible…
But why refuse the aid that Jehu gives?
This is perhaps the answer to our prayers.
Let us entrust the boy to Jehu. We
Can take him to his realm this very day,
1070 For to Samaria the way is short.
Jehu has no inexorable heart,
And David’s name finds favour in his eyes.
Lives there so cruel or so harsh a king,
Unless his mother was a Jezebel,
1075 Who would not pity such a suppliant?
Is not his cause the cause of every king?
JEHOIADA
What timid counsels dare you offer me?
How can you place your trust in Jehu’s aid?
JEHOSHABEATH
Does God forbid all foresight or concern?
1080 Would you not err by overconfidence?
And, using mortals for his sacred ends,
Did God not place weapons in Jehu’s hand?
JEHOIADA
Jehu, chosen in His wisdom by the Lord,
Jehu, in whom I see you place your trust,
1085 Has proved unmindful of heaven’s benefits.
Jehu leaves Ahab’s daughter undisturbed,
Follows where Israel’s faithless kings have trod,
Keeping the temples of the golden calf;
And, last, in the high places Jehu dares
1090 To offer incense God cannot abide.
He has, to serve God’s cause, and right God’s wrongs,
Neither pure heart nor hands unstained enough.
No. Let us to the Lord alone cleave fast.
And, far from hiding our Eliacin,
1095 Place on his head the royal diadem.
I shall even now advance the destined hour
Before Mattan can hatch his baleful plots.
Scene Seven
JEHOIADA, JEHOSHABEATH, AZARIAH
(followed by the chorus and by several Levites)
JEHOIADA
Well, Azariah, is the temple closed?
AZARIAH
I myself saw the closing of the doors.
JEHOIADA
1100 No one remains but your armed priests and you?
AZARIAH
Twice round the sacred courts I made my way.
All fled, dispersing without turning back,
Like wretched sheep sent scattering by fear,
And God is by his Levites served alone.
1105 Ah! never since the Jewish people fled
From Egypt did such terror strike their hearts.
JEHOIADA
Nation of cowards, born for slavery,
Bold against God alone. Let us pursue
1110 Our work. But what detains these children here?
ONE OF THE MAIDENS OF THE CHORUS
How can we part from you, my lord? Are we
Strangers within the temple of our God?
Our fathers, brothers – all are by your side.
SECOND MAIDEN
Alas! if to avenge Israel’s disgrace
Our hands can not, as Jael did of old,
1115 Pierce the foul forehead of God’s enemies,
We can at least offer our lives to Him.
When you are fighting for His temple’s cause,
We can at least invoke Him by our tears.
JEHOIADA
These then, eternal Wisdom, are Your troops!
1120 Priests, children, arming to defend Your cause!
If You are with them, who can make them quail?
You can recall us, even from the tomb.
You strike and cure, You ruin and revive.
Secure, not in their own deserts, but in
1125 Your name so frequently invoked for them,
Your oaths sworn to the holiest of their kings,
And in this temple where Your dwelling is,
Which will endure for ever like the sun.
But why this sacred fear that grips my heart?
1130 Is it the Spirit that comes over me?
It is. It warms me, speaks to me. Before
My eyes the obscure centuries unfold.
Levites, lend me your music’s harmonies,
And serve the inspiration of my soul.
THE CHORUS
1135(sing to the sound of the whole orchestra)
Let the voice of the Lord be heard,
And on our hearts His holy word
Fall as there falls upon the lawn
In spring the freshness of the dawn.
JEHOIADA
Ye heavens, give ear to me, and hear, O earth!
1140 Jacob, say not the Lord is slumbering.
Sinners, begone from hence. The Lord awakes.
(Here the orchestra begins anew, and Jehoiada at once starts to speak again)
How is the fine gold changed to basest lead?
Who is the priest slain in the holy place?
Weep, weep, Jerusalem, deceitful town,
1145 O you! who kill the prophets of the Lord,
God is divested of His love for you.
Your incense is polluted in His eyes.
These women, children, whither take you them?
The Lord has laid the queen of cities low,
1150 Its kings rejected, and its priests enchained.
God will have none of your appointed feasts.
O mighty cedar trees, burst into flames.
Temples, collapse!
City, what hand has ravaged all your charms?
1155 O that my eyes were as two founts of tears
To weep for your mishaps!
AZARIAH
O holy temple!
JEHOSHABEATH
David!
THE CHORUS
God of Zion!
Recall your ancient kindnesses to it.
(The orchestra begins once again, and Jehoiada, a moment later, interrupts it)
JEHOIADA
What new Jerusalem ascends
1160 From out the desert in a blaze of light,
With, on its forehead, an immortal mark?
Sing, peoples of the earth!
Jerusalem is born again.
Whence come from every side
1165 These children that it did not bear?
Lift up, Jerusalem, lift up your head.
See all these kings astounded by your fame.
Kings of the nations shall bow down to you
And kiss the dust from off your feet.
1170 The nations vie in marching to the light.
Happy the man who feels his soul inflamed
With Zion’s holy zeal.
Skies, shed your dew, and earth
1175 Give your Redeemer birth.
JEHOSHABEATH
But whence will come this signal favour if
The kings from whom the Saviour must descend –
JEHOIADA
Prepare, Jehoshabeath, the diadem
Which David bore himself upon his brow.
(to the Levites)
And you, to arm yourselves, come, follow me
1180 To where lies hidden, far from the profane,
This terrible array of swords and spears
Which once were drenched with blood of Philistines,
And which victorious David, crowned with years,
Had consecrated to his Saviour, God.
1185 Can they be wielded for a nobler aim?
Come, I will share these weapons out myself.
Scene Eight
SALOMITH, THE CHORUS
SALOMITH
What fears, my sisters, and what wild alarms!
Are these, Almighty God, the offering,
The first-fruits and the perfumes we
1190 Were to have placed upon your shrine today?
ONE OF THE MAIDENS OF THE CHORUS
What grim sight strikes our timid eyes!
Who would have thought that we would see
The murderous sword, the deadly spear
Gleam in the house of peace?
SECOND MAIDEN
1195 Why, in this peril is Jerusalem
Indifferent and silent for its God?
Why sisters, to protect us all
And break the silence, is not Abner here?
SALOMITH
Ah! in a court that has no other choice
1200 Than force and violence,
Office and honours are
The prize for blind and crawling deference.
Sisters, for sad-eyed innocence
Who would dare raise his voice?
THIRD MAIDEN
1205 In this dire peril and in this turmoil
For whom do they prepare the diadem?
SALOMITH
The Lord has deigned to speak.
But what He to His prophet has revealed
Who can explain to us?
1210 Does He arm as our certain shield?
Does He arm to undo us all?
FULL CHORUS(sing)
O promise! menace! darkest mystery!
What blessings, what misfortunes are foretold!
How can such wrath be reconciled
1215 With so much love?
A VOICE
Zion will be no more. A cruel flame
Will raze its temples to the ground.
SECOND VOICE
God watches over Zion. And it rests
Upon His everlasting word.
FIRST VOICE
I see its brilliance melt before my eyes. 1220
SECOND VOICE
I see its light shining throughout the world.
FIRST VOICE
Zion is swallowed in a deep abyss.
SECOND VOICE
Zion’s head towers to the heavens.
FIRST VOICE
What sad abasement!
SECOND VOICE
Glory without end!
FIRST VOICE
SECOND VOICE
What songs of victory!
THIRD VOICE
Be no more troubled, for one day our God
Will this great mystery unveil.
ALL THREE VOICES
Let us revere His wrath.
Let us trust in His love.
ANOTHER VOICE
1230 Who can disturb the peace,
God, of a heart that loves the Lord?
It seeks in all to do His will supreme
And never seeks reward.
On earth, in heaven itself
1235 Can any joy surpass the peace that reigns
In hearts that love the Lord?
Scene One
JOASH, JEHOSHABEATH, ZECHARIAH, SALOMITH, A LEVITE, THE CHORUS
SALOMITH
Eliacin, with slow majestic gait,
With Zechariah and his mother comes.
What do they carry, sister, in these veils?
What is this sword that marches at their head? 1240
JEHOSHABEATH (to Zechariah)
My son, place on the table reverently
The dreaded volume of our holy law.
And you too, dear Eliacin, lay down
This diadem beside the book divine.
1245 Levite, Jehoiada orders you to place
Beside the crown the sword that David bore.
JOASH
Princess, what is this novel spectacle?
Wherefore this book, this sword, this diadem?
Since God received me in His temple here,
Never such preparations have I seen. 1250
JEHOSHABEATH
Your doubts, my son, will soon be all dispelled.
JOASH
You try this diadem upon my brow?
Beware lest you profane its sanctity.
Recall the mighty king who wore it once.
A wretched child abandoned to the bears – 1255
JEHOSHABEATH (trying the diadem on him)
No more. I merely do as I am bid.
JOASH
But I hear sobbing issue from your lips!
You’re crying. Why? Whom are you sorry for?
Am I today as a burnt offering,
1260 Like Jephthah’s daughter, by my sacrifice
Destined to assuage the anger of the Lord?
A father can demand all from his son.
JEHOSHABEATH
Here is the man who’ll tell you heaven’s will.
Fear nought. And we, let us go hence.
Scene Two
JOASH, JEHOIADA
JOASH (running into the high priest’s arms)
1265 My father!
JEHOIADA
Well, my son?
JOASH
What is afoot?
JEHOIADA
It is but right, my son, that you should know.
You must, before the others, be informed
Of God’s designs for you and for His race.
Arm yourself with new courage and new faith.
1270 Now is the time to show that ardent zeal
Which I have deep implanted in your heart,
And to repay to God what’s due to Him.
1275 Are you possessed by such a noble urge?
JOASH
I will, if God desires, give Him my life.
JEHOIADA
Oft have you heard the story of our kings.
Do you recall, my son, to what strict laws
A king that’s worthy must subject himself?
JOASH
A righteous king, God has Himself declared,
Puts not his trust in riches and in gold.
1280 He fears the Lord, and keeps before his eyes
His precepts, His stern judgements, and His laws,
And does not make his brothers sweat beneath
A heavy burden.
JEHOIADA
If you had to choose
Which king would you, my son, resemble?
JOASH
Ah!
1285 David, full of devotion for the Lord,
Seems to me the ideal of a king.
JEHOIADA
And so you will not follow wickedness
1290 Like Joram, Ahaziah, and the rest.
JOASH
O father! I –
JEHOIADA
Go on. What do you feel?
JOASH
Perish whoever may resemble them!
(Jehoiada prostrates himself at his feet)
Why do you thus abase yourself to me?
JEHOIADA
I do you reverence, Joash, as my king.
Be worthy of your forebear – David.
JOASH
I,
Joash?
JEHOIADA
You’ll learn by what a signal grace
1295 God, thwarting mad Athaliah’s dark designs,
When in your breast her dagger had struck home,
Chose you, and from the slaughter rescued you.
You have not yet escaped her furious rage.
With the same ardour that she tried to kill
1300 The last of her son’s progeny in you,
Her cruel heart, resolved upon your death,
Pursues you still despite your altered name.
But I, under your banners, have arrayed
Forces that thirst to battle for your cause.
1305 Come in, chiefs of the sacred families,
Who hold in turns the priestly ministry.
Scene Three
JOASH, JEHOIADA, AZARIAH, ISHMAEL, AND THE THREE OTHER CHIEFS OF THE LEVITES
JEHOIADA (continues)
These will avenge you on your enemies.
1310 Priests, here is the king I promised you.
AZARIAH
ISHMAEL
What! this sweet child –
JEHOIADA
He is the lawful heir of Judah’s kings,
The last of ill-starred Ahaziah’s sons,
Reared, as you know, as Joash. Everyone,
All Judah, pitying, like you, the fate
Of this frail flower cut down before his time,
1315 Thought him enveloped in his brothers’ death.
The treacherous blade struck him to earth like them.
God turned aside from him this deadly blow,
Kept the last spark of vigour in his heart,
And let my wife elude the murderers,
1320 Carry him off all bleeding on her breast,
And me, the sole accomplice of her theft,
Hide in the temple both the nurse and child.
JOASH
Father, how can I ever make return
1325 For so much love, so many benefits?
JEHOIADA
Keep for another time this gratitude.
(to the Levites)
Here then is your new king; your only hope;
I have preserved him for you, till this day.
Servants of God, the last act is for you.
Soon will the murderous child of Jezebel,
1330 Learning that Joash here is still alive,
Return to plunge him back into the tomb.
Already, without knowing him, she seeks
To slaughter him. You must forestall her rage.
Finish the shameful bondage of the Jews,
1335 Avenge your princes’ death, restore your law,
And force both tribes to recognize their king.
The enterprise is great and perilous.
It’s to attack an overweening queen,
Beneath whose banner march unnumbered hordes
1340 f reckless foreigners and turncoat Jews.
In God whose interest guides me is my strength.
Remember, in this child all Israel dwells!
Already an avenging God begins
To cloud her mind. I have, outwitting her,
1345 Assembled you. She thinks us here unarmed.
Let us proclaim and crown young Joash now.
Then, valiant soldiers of our newfound prince,
March, calling on the Lord of Battles’ name,
And, stirring faith anew in slumbering hearts,
1350 Even in her palace seek our enemy.
And what faint hearts plunged in a craven sleep,
Seeing us in this holy band come on,
Will not at once fall into step and fight?
A king that in His temple God has reared,
1355 Aaron’s successor, followed by his priests,
Leading the sons of Levi on to war
Who hold in their own hands the arms revered
That David consecrated to the Lord.
God will spread terror on his enemies.
1360 Wade staunchly in the blood of infidels.
Cut down the Tyrians; smite the Israelites.
Are you not sprung of those famed Levites who,
When fickle Israel in the wilderness
Sinned bowing down before the golden calf,
1365 Pious assassins of their nearest kin,
Hallowed their hands in blood of infidels,
And won for you the honour, by that deed,
To serve alone the altars of the Lord?
But even now you burn to follow me.
1370 Swear, above all, upon this sacred book
To the king heaven restores to you this day
To live, to battle and to die for him.
AZARIAH
We swear for all our brothers and ourselves
To place King Joash on his father’s throne,
1375 And not lay down the sword placed in our hands
Till he’s avenged on all his enemies.
If one of us should fail to keep his pledge,
May he, O Lord! feel Thy avenging wrath.
May he and his, their birthright lost to them,
Be as the dead whom You no longer know. 1380
JEHOIADA (to Joash)
And you by this, your never failing rule,
Swear to abide until your dying day.
JOASH
How could I not be guided by that law?
JEHOIADA
My son – I still dare call you by that name –
1385 Suffer my fondness and forgive these tears
Drawn from me by my justified alarm.
Reared far from the throne, alas! you know
Naught of the poison of its baleful spell,
Naught of the heady joys of boundless power,
1390 And the beguiling voice of flatterers.
Soon they will tell you the most sacred laws,
Fit for the lowly herd, must bow to kings;
That nothing but your will need hold you back;
That to your greatness everything must yield;
1395 The people are condemned to tears and toil,
And by a rod of iron must be ruled;
If not oppressed, it will one day oppress.
And thus from snare to snare, to the abyss,
Leading astray the candour of your youth,
1400 They in the end will make you hate the truth
And paint you virtue in a hideous guise.
Alas! they have depraved even Solomon.
Swear on this book before these witnesses
Always to put your God above all else;
1405 Scourge of the wicked, haven of the good,
You will as judge between the poor and you,
Take God; for once, clad in the linen coat,
Like them you were an orphan, and were poor,
JOASH
I swear to follow what the law ordains.
1410 Punish me, Lord, if I forsake your ways.
JEHOIADA
Let us anoint you now with holy oil.
Come in, Jehoshabeath. You may appear.
Scene Four
JOASH, JEHOIADA, JEHOSHABEATH, ZECHARIAH, AZARIAH,
SALOMITH ETC., THE CHORUS
THE OTHER THREE CHIEFS OF THE LEVITES
JEHOSHABEATH (embracing Joash)
King! son of David!
JOASH
You’re my mother. You!
Embrace your brother, Zechariah, come.
JEHOSHABEATH (to Zechariah)
1415 My son, fall prostrate at your new king’s feet.
JEHOIADA (while they embrace)
May you live always so in amity.
JEHOSHABEATH(to Joash)
And so you know the blood from which you spring?
JOASH
Yes, and I know whose hand you saved me from.
JEHOSHABEATH
Then I may call you, Joash, by your name.
JOASH
Joash will never cease from loving you. 1420
THE CHORUS
What! That is…
JEHOSHABEATH
Joash.
JEHOIADA
(enter a Levite)
Levite. Quick. Report.
Scene Five
JOASH, JEHOIADA, JEHOSHABEATH, ETC.
A LEVITE
I know not what is planned against the Lord,
But bronzen arms resound on every side.
Amidst the standards leaps the gleam of fires.
1425 Athaliah, it is sure, musters her hordes.
Already every road to help is closed.
The sacred mount on which the temple stands
By swaggering Tyrians is encircled round.
With blasphemies, one of these men revealed:
Abner, in chains, cannot defend us now. 1430
JEHOSHABEATH (to Joash)
Dear child, by heaven in vain restored to me,
Alas! to save you what have I not done?
David, your father, is by God forgot.
JEHOIADA (to Jehoshabeath)
What, fear you not to draw His anger down
1435 On you and on this child so dear to Him?
And, even if God, calling him back to Him,
Willed the extinction of all David’s house,
Are you not on the sacred mountain where
Abraham raised against his innocent son,
1440 Without a murmur, an obedient hand,
And, offering his old age’s progeny,
Left it to God to keep His promises,
And sacrificed with this beloved son –
An only child – the future of his race.
1445 Let us divide our forces. Ishmael, you
Will guard the side that faces to the east.
You, north. You, west. And you, the south. Let none
Through rash, imprudent zeal disclose my plans,
Be he a Levite or a priest, and let
1450 None sally forth in haste before the time.
Lastly, let all, by the same spirit moved,
Guard to the death the place assigned to them.
In his blind rage, the foe considers us
As wretched sheep bound for the slaughterhouse,
1455 And thinks to find but fear and disarray.
Let Azariah now escort the King!
(to Joash)
Come hither, scion of a valiant race.
Fill with new daring those defending you.
Before their eyes put on the diadem.
1460 Perish, if you must perish, as a king.
(to Jehoshabeath – and then to a Levite)
Follow this man. And you, give me these arms.
You, children, offer up to God your tears.
Scene Six
SALOMITH, THE CHORUS
FULL CHORUS (sing)
Forth, sons of Aaron, go.
Never did greater issue steel
1465 Your forebears’ zeal.
Forth, sons of Aaron, go.
It is your King, your God, for whom you fight.
FIRST VOICE
Where are the mighty thunderbolts,
That You, in righteous anger, launch?
1470 Are You the jealous God no more?
Are You no more the God of Vengeance, Lord?
ANOTHER VOICE
Where, God of Jacob, is Your loving-kindness now?
In the dark horror all around,
Do You hear only our offences’ sound?
Are You no more the God of Mercy, Lord?
FULL CHORUS
Where, God of Jacob, is your loving-kindness now?
SECOND VOICE
It is to You that in this war
The arrows of the wicked are addressed.
‘Let us’, they say, ‘suppress
1480 God’s festivals on earth.
Let us deliver mortals from His yoke,
Massacre all His saints, destroy His shrines,
That of His glory, of His name,
All trace be blotted out,
1485 And neither He nor His Anointed reign.’
FULL CHORUS
Where are the mighty thunderbolts
That you, in righteous anger, launch?
Are you the jealous God no more?
Are you no more the God of Vengeance, Lord?
THIRD VOICE
1490 Sad remnants of our kings,
The last dear blossom of so fair a stem.
Alas! beneath a cruel mother’s knife
Are we to see you fall a second time?
Sweet prince, say, did some angel at your birth
1495 Defend your life against your murderers?
Or were your ashes by the living God
In the dark tomb revived?
FOURTH VOICE
God! must a father’s or a grandsire’s sins,
Must their revolt be visited on him?
1500 And must your pity always pass him by?
CHORUS
Where, God of Jacob, is your loving-kindness now?
Are You no more the God of Mercy, Lord?
ONE OF THE MAIDENS OF THE CHORUS (speaks)
Dear sisters, hear you not
The Tyrians’ fearful trumpet sound to war?
SALOMITH
1505 I even hear the troops’ barbarian cry,
And shudder with affright.
Let us fly, quick, let us withdraw
To the protective night
Of the dread sanctuary.
Scene One
ZECHARIAH, SALOMITH, THE CHORUS
SALOMITH
Well! Zechariah, what can you report? 1510
ZECHARIAH
Redouble to the Lord your ardent prayer.
It may well be that our last hour is near.
For the grim fight, sister, the order’s given.
SALOMITH
And Joash?
ZECHARIAH
Joash has even now been crowned.
1515 The high priest has anointed him with oil.
O heavens! what gladness shone in every eye
To see this king delivered from the grave.
Where the knife struck, one still can see the marks.
We saw before us pass the faithful nurse,
1520 Who in the bowels of this vast edifice
Guarded the boy committed to her care –
God and my mother her sole witnesses.
Our Levites with emotion and delight
Wept, mingling sobs and gladness in their cries.
1525 He midst these transports, modest, affable,
Shook hands with one, upon another smiled,
Swore to be guided by their honest vows,
And called each one his father or his friend.
SALOMITH
And has this secret now been spread abroad?
ZECHARIAH
1530 It is confined within the temple’s bounds.
The sons of Levi, variously assigned,
In deepest silence guard the temple’s doors.
All of them must rush forward like one man,
And, as a signal, cry: ‘Long live the king.’
1535 But Joash is forbidden to take part.
To guard him Azariah stays behind.
Meanwhile the Queen, a dagger in her hand,
Mocks the weak ramparts of our doors of bronze,
And waits for her machines of death to break
1540 Them down. She’s breathing ruin, fire and blood.
Sister, some priests at once proposed to hide
At least the Ark of Israel’s covenant
Deep in a hollow that our fathers dug.
‘Insulting, groundless fear,’ my father said.
1545 ‘The Ark that brought so many towers low
And forced the Jordan to retrace its course,
So oft victorious o’er the nations’ gods,
Must it now flee a woman’s insolence?’
My mother, near the king, in mortal fear,
1550 Her eye now on the altar, now the prince,
Silent, and sinking under the suspense,
Would draw salt tears from even the stoniest eyes.
The King from time to time embraces her,
And comforts her. Dear sisters, follow me,
1555 And, if our King must meet his fate today,
Come, let us in that death be linked with him.
SALOMITH
What shameless hand is hammering at the door?
What makes these Levites now run to and fro?
And what precaution makes them hide their arms?
1560 What! is the temple forced?
ZECHARIAH
Be not alarmed:
Scene Two
JEHOIADA, JEHOSHABEATH, ZECHARIAH, ABNER, ISHMAEL, TWO LEVITES, THE CHORUS
JEHOIADA
Do I see aright?
Abner? How did you find a way to us
Through the vast army that besieges us?
For Ahab’s sacrilegious daughter had,
1565’Twas said, to further her inhuman plans,
Laden with shameful chains your noble hands.
ABNER
It’s true. She feared my courage and my zeal;
But that’s the least reward reserved for me.
In a grim dungeon locked by her command,
1570 I waited till, the temple burnt to ash,
She came, by seas of blood still unassuaged,
To free me from a life unbearable
That should have been a thousand times abridged
By grief at living longer than my kings.
JEHOIADA
Your pardon – by what miracle obtained? 1575
ABNER
God alone sees into this cruel heart.
She sent for me, and, with distracted mien:
‘You see this temple circled by my troops.
Avenging swords will raze it to the ground.
1580 Your God cannot defend it against me.
His priests, however – but you must make haste –
On two conditions can redeem themselves.
Eliacin must be delivered up
With treasures I am sure are known to them,
1585 That once by your King David were amassed
And given the high priest, sworn to secrecy.
Go, tell them they may live, but at this price.’
JEHOIADA
What course, dear Abner, think you we should take?
ABNER
Why, all the gold of David, if it’s true
1590 You keep some secret treasure of the King,
And all things rich and rare that you have still
Saved from the clutches of this grasping Queen,
Give them. Would you desire foul murderers
To break the altar, burn the cherubim,
1595 And, desecrating with their hand the Ark,
Defile the sanctuary with your blood?
JEHOIADA
But would it, friend, befit a noble heart
To send to death a poor, unhappy child,
A child that God Himself entrusts to me,
1600 And thus to buy our safety with his life?
ABNER
Alas! God sees my heart. Almighty God,
Let but the Queen forget this child, and let
Her cruelty, content with Abner’s blood,
Thereby placate the heavens that torture her.
1605 But what avails him all your vain concern?
If all should perish, will he die the less?
Does God command you the impossible?
Once in obedience to a tyrant’s laws,
Moses, abandoned to the river Nile,
1610 Was almost at his birth condemned to die;
But God, preserving him against all hope,
Caused that same tyrant to adopt the child.
Who knows what lies in store for him, if God,
Tracing for him an equal destiny,
1615 Has not already touched with pity’s dint
The implacable assassin of our kings.
At least – Jehoshabeath has seen it too –
Just now standing before him, she was moved.
I saw the violence of her wrath abate.
(to Jehoshabeath)
1620 But in this danger you are silent! What!
For a mere stranger, for a child, you let
Jehoiada, to no purpose, send to death
You, his son, all these priests, and let the fire
Burn the one place where God desires to be
1625 Adored. Would you do more were this young child
Sprung from the Hebrew kings, your ancestors?
JEHOSHABEATH (aside to Jehoiada)
You see his deep devotion to his kings.
Why not speak out?
JEHOIADA
The time is not yet come.
ABNER
It is much later than you think, my lord.
1630 While you’re uncertain as to your reply,
Mattan, flashing with rage, implores the Queen
To give the signal for the massacre.
Must I fall at your venerated feet?
Ah! by the Ark, open to you alone,
1635 In which there dwells the majesty of God,
However harsh the terms imposed on you,
Try to avert this unexpected blow.
Give me only the shortest breathing space.
Tomorrow, this same night, I shall take steps
1640 To make the temple safe, avenge God’s wrongs.
But, as I see, my tears, my arguments
Avail but little in persuading you.
Your austere virtue is unmoved by them.
Well, then, find me some sword, and, where the foe
1645 Lies waiting for me at the temple’s doors,
Let Abner die at least a soldier’s death.
JEHOIADA
I yield, and take the course that you propose.
Let us ward off this many-headed threat.
It’s true we have King David’s treasure here.
1650 It was committed to my faithful care –
The last hope of the poor despairing Jews –
That I concealed far from the light of day.
But, since you must reveal it to your Queen,
Our doors will open. She will be content.
1655 Let her come in with her most valiant chiefs,
But let her from our holy altars bar
The unbridled fury of an alien rout.
Spare me the horror of the temple’s sack.
Can children give her umbrage, or can priests?
1660 Settle her escort’s number with the Queen.
As for this child, so dreaded and so feared,
I know you are an honourable man.
I in her presence shall explain his birth,
And you shall judge between the Queen and him.
ABNER
1665 I shall even now take him beneath my wing.
From this time on, I will protect the boy.
Fear nought. I haste to her who sent me here.
Scene Three
JEHOIADA, JEHOSHABEATH, ZECHARIAH, ETC.
JEHOIADA
Great God! now is your hour. Your prey is here.
Listen, dear Ishmael.
(He whispers to Ishmael)
JEHOSHABEATH
Mighty Lord of Heaven,
1670 Cover her eyes, as once you covered them
When you deprived her of her crime’s reward,
And hid this tender victim in my breast.
JEHOIADA
Go, Ishmael, quickly. There’s no time to lose.
Follow these firm commands in every point,
1675 And, as she enters in and passes by,
Let everything breathe the profoundest calm.
Children, prepare a throne for Joash; then
Let him, leading his priestly soldiers on,
Advance. Send, too, for his devoted nurse.
1680 But Princess, dry the river of your tears.
(to a Levite)
You, once Athaliah, drunk with feverish pride,
Has crossed the threshold of the temple door,
Let there be no more going back for her.
See that at once the martial trumpet’s sound
1685 Spreads sudden fear throughout the enemy.
Summon the people to their King’s defence;
Let the astounding news ring in their ears –
The miracle that Joash is preserved.
He comes.
Scene Four
JOASH, JEHOSHABEATH, JEHOIADA, PRIESTS, LEVITES, ETC.
JEHOIADA (continues)
O sacred Levites, priests of God,
1690 Surround this place, but do not show yourselves.
Letting your ardour be controlled by me,
Wait to appear until I call on you.
(They all hide)
King – I believe this hope is justified –
Come and behold your foes fall at your feet.
1695 She whose wild rage pursued you as a child
Hither, to compass your destruction, strides.
But fear her not. Remember, all around,
The angel of the Lord stands guard on us.
Ascend your throne and then.… But look, the door…
1700 Allow me for a time to draw this veil.
(He draws a curtain)
Your colour changes.
JEHOSHABEATH
Without turning pale,
Can I see cut-throats fill the temple? What!
Do you not see this escort numberless…?
JEHOIADA
I see the temple door swing to again.
1705 Everything’s safe.
Scene Five
ATHALIAH, JOASH (hidden behind the curtain), JEHOIADA, JEHOSHABEATH, ABNER, ATHALIAH’S RETINUE
ATHALIAH (to Jehoiada)
Ah! rebel, there you are,
Vile instigator of subversive plots,
Who only in disorder put your trust,
Supreme authority’s relentless foe.
You placed reliance on your God’s support.
1710 A futile hope! Are you now undeceived?
He leaves your life and temple in my power.
And on the altar where you sacrifice
I ought… But I must take what’s offered me.
What you have promised, think to execute.
1715 This child, this treasure to be given up,
Where are they?
JEHOIADA
You will straight be satisfied.
Together they will be revealed to you.
(The curtain is drawn back)
Come forth, O worthy scion of our kings!
Behold our holiest monarch’s heir. At least
1720 You recognize the marks your dagger left.
Here is your King, here Ahaziah’s son.
Do homage to him, all, and Abner, you,
As well.
ABNER
God!
ATHALIAH (to Jehoiada)
Villain!
JEHOIADA
Do you see this nurse,
Who, as you know, suckled him at that time?
1725 My wife from your mad frenzy bore him off.
This temple hid him. God watched over him.
Of David’s treasures none but this remains.
ATHALIAH
Your crime will be this child’s undoing. From
An odious phantom, troops, deliver me.
JEHOIADA
1730 Troops of the living God, defend your King.
(At this point, the back of the stage opens. The inside of the temple becomes visible, and armed Levites emerge from all sides on to the stage)
ATHALIAH
Where am I? Treason! O unhappy Queen!
By arms and foes I am encompassed round.
JEHOIADA
You search in vain. For there is no escape.
And God on every side envelops you.
1735 This God you braved has given you o’er to us.
Account to Him for all the blood you’ve shed.
ATHALIAH
What! fear has chilled my wretched soldiers’ hearts.
Dastardly Abner, you have trapped me.
ABNER
Queen!
God is my witness…
ATHALIAH
Wretch! forget your God.
1740 Avenge me.
ABNER (throwing himself at Joash’s feet)
Upon whom? Joash, my King?
ATHALIAH
He, Joash? he your King? Think, traitors, think.
My arms still hold you in an iron ring.
I hear my army calling me. They come
1745 To rescue me. Tremble, rebellious band.
Scene Six
ISHMAEL, JOASH, JEHOIADA, ATHALIAH, ETC.
ISHMAEL (to Jehoiada)
The temple’s free; its enemies no more;
The foreigners in flight; the Jews submit.
As smoke is scattered in the air by wind,
The Almighty’s voice has driven off this host.
Our Levites from our sacred courts on high
1750 The son of Ahaziah have proclaimed,
His childhood rescue from the murderers’ sword,
And Ahab’s daughter fallen into the snare.
The trumpet sounded on all sides at once.
This and their cries in the astounded camp
1755 Spread the confusion and the sudden fear
With which once Gideon smote the Midianite.
The Tyrians, casting arms and shields away,
By devious ways were first to disappear.
Some panic-stricken Jews as well took flight.
1760 But all the rest, marvelling at God’s designs,
For Joash loudly have declared themselves.
In short, the people with one mind rejoice.
Women, and children and old men embrace,
Bless God, and bless the ruler sent by Him.
1765 All sing of David’s son restored to life.
Baal in this holy city is abhorred.
His temple’s doors are smashed. Mattan is slain.
ATHALIAH
God of the Jews, you conquer. Yes, it’s he!
Vain is my effort to deceive myself.
1770 I see the mark left where I had him stabbed.
It’s Ahaziah’s bearing, gesture, face.
All conjures up a line that I detest.
And David triumphs. Ahab is destroyed.
Pitiless God! yours was the guiding hand,
1775 You, who, with easy vengeance luring me,
Set me against myself perpetually.
Now for a child arousing my remorse,
Now dazzling me with treasures and with gold
I feared to give to pillage and the flames.
1780 Let him reign then, your son, your handiwork,
And, to inaugurate his empire, bid
Him plunge his dagger deep into my breast.
His mother dying wishes this for him.
Wishes? Nay, flatters herself, firmly hopes
1785 That, restive to your yoke, tired of your law,
Faithful to Ahab’s blood received from me,
Even as his grandsire, like his father too,
David’s accursed heir will quite destroy
Your honour, violate your altars, and
1790 Avenge Athaliah, Ahab, Jezebel.
JEHOIADA
Drag her at once from out the temple’s bounds
So that its sanctity be not profaned.
Holy avengers of your murdered kings,
Go and appease their blood that cries aloud.
1795 And anyone who dares espouse her cause
Deliver to the fury of the sword.
Scene Seven
JOASH, JEHOIADA, JEHOSHABEATH, ABNER, ETC.
JOASH
God, who behold my sorely troubled heart,
Avert her malediction far from me.
Grant it may never come to pass, O Lord!
1800 If ever I forget You, let me die.
JEHOIADA
Summon the people. Show them all their King.
Let them swear new allegiance to his throne.
King, priests, and people full of gratitude,
Let us confirm our covenant with God,
1805 And, with a heart that’s truly penitent,
Vow to commit ourselves to Him afresh.
Abner, resume your place beside the King.
Scene Eight
A LEVITE, JOASH, JEHOIADA, ETC.
JEHOIADA (to the Levite)
Has justice on this impious Queen been done?
THE LEVITE
The sword has purged the horror of her life.
1810 Jerusalem, that long had borne her rage,
At last delivered from her odious yoke,
Rejoices as she lies steeped in her blood.
JEHOIADA
From this grim end, the sanction of her crimes,
Learn, and do not forget, King of the Jews,
1815 Kings have a judge in heaven, virtue a shield,
And there’s a father to the fatherless.