714 devoir is here used as a pseudo-auxiliary; see l. 155, N,--_L'emporter_, idiomatic for "to win the day." The substantive, for which the fossilized pronoun _le_ stands, is uncertain. Cf. _l'échapper belle_, idiomatic for "to have a narrow escape."
778 Note the force of the tense: "I never [once] admired." See App. II, ii. B. b.
779 Note the difference between _avoir envie de_ and _porter envie a_.
799 errer is never, while "to err" is always used figuratively.
825 rejoindre = "to join." This prefix _re_- is more freely used in French than in English. Cf. _recopier_ = "to copy."
826 See Book of Esther, vi. 13-14, for the few lines on which Racine has built the two strong scenes that follow. Also i. 6, for the description of the grandeur of this "court of the garden of the king's palace."
832 éclaircir is "to restore to its own brightness;" _éclairer_ is "to throw a light from without upon." Cf. l. 177.
835 ressentir, from _re_ + _sentir_. Note the doubling of the "_s_," in order to preserve its sound as in _sentir_. Cf. _ressembler_, _ressource_, _ressusciter_, etc.
aussi cette félicité, i.e., the joy of having been favored as mentioned in l. 834, as well as the pain of the affront.
836 le mal is of course a reference to ll. 618-622; _le bienfait_, to l. 702.
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.
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.