2. Act, 5. Scene

Athaliah, Mathan and Abner 

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ATHALIAH:
Both of you lend me an attentive ear.
I do not wish now to recall the past,
Nor give account to you for blood I shed :
A sense of duty prompted all my acts.
Nor will I take for judge a hasty crowd ;
Whate'er they may presume to spread abroad,
My vindication Heaven has made its care.
My power, established on renowned success,
Has magnified my name from sea to sea ;
Jerusalem enjoys profoundest peace ;
The wandering Arab Jordan sees no more
Ravage his borders with continual raids ;
Nor boasts Philistia over Judah now,
And Syria owns me for a sister Queen.
Lastly the traitor who destroyed my House,
And e'en to me thought to extend his rage,
Jehu, fierce Jehu, in Samaria quails
Before a mighty rival's rapid strokes,
Whom I incited to attack my foe ;
And thus th' assassin leaves me mistress here,
To reap the fruits of policy in peace.
But for some days a gnawing care has come,
To check the flood of my prosperity.
A dream (why should a dream disquiet me ? )
Preys on my heart, and keeps it ill at ease ;
I try to banish it ; it haunts me still.
'Twas deepest night, when horror falls on man,
My mother Jezebel before me stood,
Richly attired as on the day she died,
Her pride undaunted by misfortune's touch.
That borrowed brightness still her features wore,
Which she would paint upon her withered face,
To hide the ravages of ruthless age :
"Tremble," she said, "child worthy of myself;
O'er thee too triumphs Judah's cruel god,
And thou must fall into his dreadful hands,
Whereat I grieve." With these alarming words,
Her specter o'er my bed appeared to bend ;
I stretched my hands to clasp her ; but I found
Only a hideous mass of flesh and bones,
Horribly bruised and mangled, dragged thro' mire,
Bleeding and torn, whose limbs the dogs of prey
Were growling over with devouring greed.
[...] While thus disturb'd, before me rose
The vision of a boy in shining robe,
Such as the Hebrew priests are wont to wear.
My drooping spirits at his sight revived:
But while my troubled eyes, to peace restored,
Admired his noble air and modest grace,
I felt the sudden stroke of murderous steel
Plunged deeply by the traitor in my breast.
Perhaps to you this dream, so strangely mix'd,
May seem a work of chance, and I myself,
For long ashamed to let my fears prevail,
Referr'd it to a melancholy mood;
But while its memory linger'd in my soul,
Twice in my sleep I saw that form again,
Twice the same child before my eyes appear'd,
Always about to stab me to the heart.
Worn out at last by horror's close pursuit,
I went to claim Baal's protecting care,
And, kneeling at his altars, find repose.
How strangely fear may sway our mortal minds!
And instinct seem'd to drive me to those courts,
To pacify the god whom Jews adore;
I thought that offerings might appease his wrath,
That this their god might grow more merciful.
Baal's High Priest, my feebleness forgive!
I enter'd; and the sacrifice was stay'd,
The people fled, Jehoiada in wrath
Advanced to meet me. As he spake, I saw
With terror and surprise that self-same boy
Who haunts me in my dreams. I saw him there;
His mien the same, the same his linen stole,
His gait, his eyes, each feature of his face;
It was himself; beside th' High Priest he walk'd,
Till quickly they removed him from my sight.
That is the trouble which detains me here,
And thereon would I fain consult you both.
What means this omen marvellous?