See 1. 485, N

898 For enfin, see 1. 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 1. 910.

928 dès longtemps, in prose depuis longtemps. See 1. 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 élégant 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 hère 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 1. 259, N.

1012 camp = " host."

1021 For the virtual superlative si sage, cf. 1. 541.

1024 Dussiez-vous, = quand même vous devriez. This élégant use of the imperf. subj. with subject pronoun inverted (= quand même and the conditional) is generally confîned to the auxiliaries, ot pseudo-auxiliaries, such as savoir, pouvoir, falloir, sic. In the third

person sing. however, where the verb-forms are less unwieldlv, other verbs may be so used : it is a matter of euphony. — For the previous offer, see 1. 660.

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

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

1047 contrée, always — " région."

1050 Hère begins a magnifkent passage where élévation 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 Israël, and Xebuchadnezzar IL, 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., § 4, Chron. Table.

1062-3 Isaiah xlv. 1-3: " Thus saith the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I hâve holden, to subdue nations before him, and I will loose the loins of kings ; to open the doors before him, and the gâtes will not be shut. I will go before thee, and make the rugged places plain : I will break in pièces the doors of brass and eut 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 thèse times, see Introd. § 4. Cyrus reigned about 560-530 B.C.

106S son temple détruit, another Latin construction. — Xebuchadnezzar IL destroyed the temple of Jérusalem 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 nls> 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 ora« torical purposes. Thracia (now N. E. Roumelia), like Scythia (1

1096), was then a remote and almost unknown région, whose inhabitants were ail " barbarians."

1096 sqq. Esther is supremely skillful in laying to the king's crédit ail that can flatter his pride, and charging ail she complains of against this Scythe impitoyable : a name ail 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 expédition in a more flattering light in 1. 11 16.

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

11 23 Saul, first king of the Israélites, was the son of Kish, a Benjamite (1 Sam. ix. 1-2), and Mordecai is also stated (Book of Esther ii. 5) to be the son of Kish, a Benjamite.

11 27 Impossible to anticipate more skillfully the retort that Mordecai should hâve honored the king's favorite.

11 35 couvert de votre pourpre makes the offence almost personal to the king.

11 36 For jour, see 1. 1039, N.

1 141 achever = " to finish." Tr. "corne down in thy fullness."

1 146 crédit, see 1. 171.

1 1 51 vos ennemis aussitôt massacrés, anotherLat. construction. Thèse Unes aie a very skillful révélation of Haman's character : he attempts to bribe the queen by the offer of that which would seem most désirable to himself.

11 62 en. See App. V, ii. D.

11 68 The king interprets Haman's attitude as an attempt at violence.

1 1 75 repaisse. Cf. Verg. ^En. VIII, 265: nequeunt expleri corda tiiendo.

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 resuit is more stress on the state, instead of on the action.

1192 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. 1. 56, N. There is also an allusion to the reconstitution of the Jews as a nation, promised by the king, 11. 11S2-11S9.

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