838-843 Racine had great experience of court. See Introd. I.--_Dévorer_, figurative, "to endure in silence." Cf. _dévorer ses larmes_ = "to restrain one's tears." 841 essuyer, fig. = "to put up with something disagreeable," the figure being taken from wiping up spilt liquid, as the way to make the best of a mishap. E.g., _Il essuya un refus--Ce vaisseau a essuyé une tempête--Ce général avait essuyé plusieurs défaites. 842 un outrage endure. For this Latin construction, see l. 139, N. 868 exerçant, "wielding," correctly refers to the speaker, Haman, as the king's minister. 872 ma vie exposée, another Latin construction. 874 Que sert. See App. IV, i. A. 881 le peuple. Cf. l. 56, N. 890 For the spelling _voi_ (which is etymologically correct, seeing that no first person singular ends in "s" in Lat.), see App. I, Rhyme. 892 Cf. Claudian, _In Rufinum_, I. 22, 23. . . . tolluntur in altum Ut lapsu graviore ruant. 894 ces bords écartés, i.e., Macedonia. We have already referred to Rest of the Book of Esther, xvi. 10, where Haman is described as a Macedonian. 896-897. See l. 485, N. 898 For enfin, see l. 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 l. 910. 928 dès longtemps, in prose _depuis longtemps_. See l. 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 elegant 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 here 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 l. 259, N. 1012 camp = "host." 1021 For the virtual superlative _si sage_, cf. l. 541. 1024 Dussiez-vous, = _quand même vous devriez_. This elegant use of the imperf. subj. with subject pronoun inverted (= _quand même_ and the conditional) is generally confined to the auxiliaries, or pseudo-auxiliaries, such as _savoir_, _pouvoir_, _falloir_, etc. In the third person sing. however, where the verb-forms are less unwieldly, other verbs may be so used: it is a matter of euphony.--For the previous offer, see l. 660. 1039 aurait puise. Note this conditional past of hypothetical statement. It always implies that the speaker is unwilling to indorse the statement on his own responsibility. Jour means: 1. "day;" 2. "day-light;" 3. any "light,"; physical (as in _un abat-jour_) or figurative, e.g., l. 1136; 4. "birth," cf. l. 1277; 5. in plural, "life." 1047 contrée, always = "region." 1050 Here begins a magnificent passage where elevation of language almost reaches inspiration. 1053 qu'on outrage--an adj., "oppressed."