(Zeresh, are
You ill?)—when Esther begged that I would come
Again to-morrow to another feast
Her hand would lay for Haman and the king.
My wealth is multiplied beyond my ken;
The sceptre is almost within my grasp.
But all these things avail me naught, so long
As yonder hated Jew remains unbent.
A Friend
Destroy the brute at once!
Haman
Oh, that will not
Suffice. 'Tis not his death, but homage that
Must sweeten my revenge. Ah, I would see
Him groveling on the earth as Haman passed.
My rank and station must be recognized.
I sit beside the king; I am premier
Of Persia. Yet this Jewish dog is still
Unmoved!
Zeresh
Hang him where the kites will eat
His eyes!
Haman
O Zeresh, you are like the rising sun—
An inspiration in the hour of gloom.
We'll build this gallows fifty cubits high,
And then his Hebrew pride will bite the dust.
Oh, I can hear him whining like a cur,
My love, your wisdom is above the head.
A woman's heart is like an oracle
Divine. Prepare this gallows. Friends, I go
At dawn to greet the king. At night we dine
Alone with Esther, and—
[Zeresh faints.]