ACT IV. The outer Courts of the Temple at Jerusalem - SCENE I - JUDAS MACCABAEUS; CAPTAINS; JEWS

ACT IV. The outer Courts of the Temple at Jerusalem: SCENE I - JUDAS MACCABAEUS; CAPTAINS; JEWS

JUDAS.
Behold, our enemies are discomfited.
Jerusalem is fallen; and our banners
Float from her battlements, and o'er her gates
Nicanor's severed head, a sign of terror,
Blackens in wind and sun.

CAPTAINS.
O Maccabaeus,
The citadel of Antiochus, wherein
The Mother with her Seven Sons was murdered,
Is still defiant.

JUDAS.
Wait.

CAPTAINS.
Its hateful aspect
Insults us with the bitter memories
Of other days.

JUDAS.
Wait; it shall disappear
And vanish as a cloud. First let us cleanse
The Sanctuary. See, it is become
Waste like a wilderness. Its golden gates
Wrenched from their hinges and consumed by fire;
Shrubs growing in its courts as in a forest;
Upon its altars hideous and strange idols;
And strewn about its pavement at my feet
Its Sacred Books, half burned and painted o'er
With images of heathen gods.

JEWS.
Woe! woe!
Our beauty and our glory are laid waste!
The Gentiles have profaned our holy p]aces!

(Lamentation and alarm of trumpets.)

JUDAS.
This sound of trumpets, and this lamentation,
The heart-cry of a people toward the heavens,
Stir me to wrath and vengeance. Go, my captains;
I hold you back no longer. Batter down
The citadel of Antiochus, while here
We sweep away his altars and his gods.

Content of ACT IV. The outer Courts of the Temple at Jerusalem SCENE I - JUDAS MACCABAEUS; CAPTAINS; JEWS [Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's play/drama: Judas Maccabaeus]

Read next: ACT IV. The outer Courts of the Temple at Jerusalem#SCENE II - JUDAS MACCABAEUS; JASON; JEWS

Read previous: ACT III. The Battle-field of Beth-horon#SCENE IV - JUDAS MACCABAEUS; CAPTAINS AND SOLDIERS

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