University of Virginia Library

SCENE III.

The council-hall. Absalom, Ahithophel, Manasses, Malchiah, Hushai, and others, in debate: Ahithophel speaking.
Ahith.
My lord, you know them not;—you wear, to-day,
The diadem, and hear yourself proclaimed
With trump and timbrel Israel's joy, and deem
Your lasting throne established. Canst thou bless,
Or blast, like Him who rent the waters, clave
The rock, whose awful clangor shook the world
When Sinai quaked beneath his majesty?
Yet Jacob's seed forsook this thundering Guide,
Even at the foot of the astonished mount!—
If benefits could bind them, wherefore flames
The Ammonitish spoil upon thy brows,
While David's locks are naked to the night dew?
Canst thou transcend thy father? Is thy arm
Stronger than his who smote from sea to sea,
And girt us like a band of adamant?—
Trust not their faith. Thy father's root is deep:
His stock will bourgeon with a single sun;
And many tears will flow to moisten him.—
Pursue, this night, or ruin will o'ertake thee.

Ab.
What say'st thou, Hushai? Speak to this, once more.

Hush.
I listen to my lord Ahithophel,
As to a heaven-instructed oracle;
But what he urges more alarms my fears.
Thou seest, O King, how night envelopes us:
Amidst its perils, whom must we pursue?
The son of Jesse is a man of war,
Old in the field, hardened to danger, skilled
In every wile and stratagem; the night
More welcome than the day. Each mountain path
He treads instinctive as the ibex; sleeps,
Moistened with cold, dank drippings of the rock,
As underneath the canopy. Some den
Will be his bed to-night. No hunter knows
Like him, the caverns, cliffs, and treacherous passes;
Familiar to his feet, in former days,
As 'twixt the Court and Tabernacle! What!
Know ye not how his great heart swells in danger,
Like the old lion's from his lair by Jordan?—
Beware of him, by night, while chafed with anger.
Surprisal!—While we talk, they lurk in ambush,
Expectant of their prey: the Cherethites,
And those bloody-thirsty Gittites, crouch around him,
Like evening wolves: fierce Joab darts his eyes,
Keen as the leopard's, out into the night,
And curses our delay; Abishai raves;
Benaiah, Ittai, and the Tachmonite,
And they, the mighty three, who broke the host
Of the Philistines, and from Bethlehem well
Drew water, when the King but thirsted, now,
Raven like beasts bereaved of their young.—
We go not after boys, but the Gibborim,
Whose bloody weapons never struck but triumphed.

Malchi.
It were a doubtful quest.

Hush.
Hear me, O King.
Go not to night, but summon, with the dawn,
Israel's ten thousands; mount thy conquering car,
Surrounded by innumerable hosts,
And go, their strength, their glory, and their King,
Almighty to the battle; for what might
Can then resist thee? Light upon this handful,
Like dew upon the earth; or, if they bar
Some city's gates against thee, let the people
Level its puny ramparts, stone by stone,
And cast them into Jordan. Thus my lord
May bind his crown with wreaths of victory,
And owe his kingdom to no second arm.

Ahith.
O blindness! lunacy!

Hush.
I would retire;
Ye have my counsel.

Ahith.
Would thou hadst not come,
To linger out with thy pernicious talk
The hours of action.

Hush.
Wise Ahithophel,
No longer I'll offend thee. Please the King—

(Absalom waves him to resume his seat.)
Ahith.
By all your hopes, my lord, of life and glory,
I do adjure thee shut thine ears to him!
His counsel 's fatal, if not treacherous.
I see its issue, clearly as I see
The badge of royalty,—not long to sit
Where now it sparkles, if his words entice thee.—
Never was prudence in my tongue, or now.—
Blanched as I am, weak, withered, winter-stricken,
Grant but twelve thousand men, and I'll go forth.
Weary, weak-handed, what can they, if taken,
Now, in their first alarm?

Ab.
Were this resolved,
We would not task thy age. What think ye, Sirs?

Manass.
My lord, the risk is great: a night assault
Deprives us of advantage from our numbers,
Which in the open field insure success;
And news of a disaster blown about,
And magnified, just now, when all are trembling,
Might lose a Tribe, might wound us fatally.
Hushai's advice appears most prudent.

Ahith.
Fate!

Malchi.
I think so too, my lord.

Others.
And I. And I.

Ahith.
Undone!

Ab.
The council are agreed, this once,
Against you, and with them the King accords.

Ahith.
(stretching his hands toward Absalom.)
Against thyself—thy throne—thy life—thy all!—
Darkness has entered thee,—confusion waits thee,—
Death brandishes his dart at thee, and grins
At thy brief diadem!—Farewell! Farewell!—
Remember me!—I'll not be checked and rated,—
Branded with treason,—see my hoary hairs
Hooted and scoffed at, were they spared, indeed,
For such indignity.—Thou 'lt follow soon.

(Exit.)
Ab.
Or win or lose, we walk not by thy light.

Malchi.
The old man's strangely moved.

Manass.
His fury seemed
Prophetical.

Ab.
The council is dissolved,
Here to assemble in the morning early,
To order for our absence. Leave us now
To private business.

Counsellors.
Save our lord the King.

(Exeunt.)