Samson.Oh, that torment should not be confinedTo the body's wounds and sores,With maladies innumerableIn heart, head, breast, and reins,But must secret passage find610To the inmost mind,There exercise all his fierce accidents,And on her purest spirits prey,As on entrails, joints, and limbs,With answerable pains, but more intense,615Though void of corporal sense!My griefs not only pain meAs a lingering disease,But, finding no redress, ferment and rage;Nor less than wounds immedicable620Rankle, and fester, and gangrene,To black mortification.Thoughts, my tormentors, armed with deadly stings,Mangle my apprehensive tenderest parts,Exasperate, exulcerate, and raise625Dire inflammation, which no cooling herbOr medicinal liquor can assuage,Nor breath of vernal air from snowy Alp.Sleep hath forsook and given me o'erTo death's benumbing opium as my only cure;630Thence faintings, swoonings of despair,And sense of Heaven's desertion.I was his nursling once and choice delight,His, destined from the womb,Promised by heavenly message twice descending.635Under his special eyeAbstemious I grew up and thrived amain;He led me on to mightiest deeds,Above the nerve of mortal arm,Against the Uncircumcised, our enemies:640But now hath cast me off as never known,And to those cruel enemies,Whom I by his appointment had provoked,Left me all helpless, with the irreparable lossOf sight, reserved alive to be repeated645The subject of their cruelty or scorn.Nor am I in the list of them that hope;Hopeless are all my evils, all remediless.This one prayer yet remains, might I be heard,No long petition, speedy death,650The close of all my miseries, and the balm.Chorus.Many are the sayings of the wise,In ancient and in modern books enrolled,Extolling patience as the truest fortitude,And to the bearing well of all calamities,655All chances incident to man's frail life,Consolatories writWith studied argument, and much persuasion sought,Lenient of grief and anxious thought.But with the afflicted in his pangs their sound660Little prevails, or rather seems a tuneHarsh, and of dissonant mood from his complaint,Unless he feel withinSome source of consolation from above,Secret refreshings that repair his strength665And fainting spirits uphold.God of our fathers! what is Man,That thou towards him with hand so various—Or might I say contrarious?—Temper'st thy providence through his short course:670Not evenly, as thou rul'stThe angelic orders, and inferior creatures mute,Irrational and brute?Nor do I name of men the common rout,That, wand'ring loose about,675Grow up and perish, as the summer fly,Heads without name, no more rememberèd;But such as thou hast solemnly elected,With gifts and graces eminently adorned,To some great work, thy glory,680And people's safety, which in part they effect.Yet toward these thus dignified, thou oft,Amidst their highth of noon,Changest thy countenance and thy hand, with no regardOf highest favours past685From thee on them, or them to thee of service.Nor only dost degrade them, or remitTo life obscured, which were a fair dismission,But throw'st them lower than thou didst exalt them high—Unseemly falls in human eye,690Too grievous for the trespass or omission;Oft leav'st them to the hostile swordOf heathen and profane, their carcassesTo dogs and fowls a prey, or else captived,Or to the unjust tribunals, under change of times,695And condemnation of the ingrateful multitude.If these they scape, perhaps in povertyWith sickness and disease thou bow'st them down,Painful diseases and deformed,In crude old age;700Though not disordinate, yet causeless sufferingThe punishment of dissolute days. In fine,Just or unjust alike seem miserable,For oft alike both come to evil end.So deal not with this once thy glorious champion,705The image of thy strength, and mighty minister.What do I beg? how hast thou dealt already!Behold him in this state calamitous, and turnHis labours, for thou canst, to peaceful end.But who is this? what thing of sea or land?710—Female of sex it seems—That so bedecked, ornate, and gay,Comes this way sailing,Like a stately shipOf Tarsus, bound for the isles715Of Javan or Gadire,With all her bravery on, and tackle trim,Sails filled, and streamers waving,Courted by all the winds that hold them play,An amber scent of odorous perfume720Her harbinger, a damsel train behind;Some rich Philistian matron she may seem,And now, at nearer view, no other certainThan Dalila thy wife.Samson.My wife? my traitress; let her not come near me.725Chorus.Yet on she moves; now stands and eyes thee fixed,About to have spoke; but now, with head declined,Like a fair flower surcharged with dew, she weeps,And words addressed seem into tears dissolved,Wetting the borders of her silken veil.730But now again she makes address to speak.Dalila.With doubtful feet and wavering resolutionI came, still dreading thy displeasure, Samson,Which to have merited, without excuse,I cannot but acknowledge; yet if tears735May expiate (though the fact more evil drewIn the perverse event than I foresaw),My penance hath not slackened, though my pardonNo way assured. But conjugal affection,Prevailing over fear and timorous doubt,740Hath led me on, desirous to beholdOnce more thy face, and know of thy estate,If aught in my ability may serveTo lighten what thou sufferest, and appeaseThy mind with what amends is in my power,745Though late, yet in some part to recompenseMy rash but more unfortunate misdeed.Samson.Out, out, hyæna! these are thy wonted arts,And arts of every woman false like thee—To break all faith, all vows, deceive, betray;750Then, as repentant, to submit, beseech,And reconcilement move with feigned remorse,Confess, and promise wonders in her change—Not truly penitent, but chief to tryHer husband, how far urged his patience bears,755His virtue or weakness which way to assail:Then, with more cautious and instructed skill,Again transgresses, and again submits;That wisest and best men, full oft beguiled,With goodness principled not to reject760The penitent, but ever to forgive,Are drawn to wear out miserable days,Entangled with a poisonous bosom-snake,If not by quick destruction soon cut off,As I by thee, to ages an example.765Dalila.Yet hear me, Samson; not that I endeavourTo lessen or extenuate my offence,But that, on the other side, if it be weighedBy itself, with aggravations not surcharged,Or else with just allowance counterpoised,770I may, if possible, thy pardon findThe easier towards me, or thy hatred less.First granting, as I do, it was a weaknessIn me, but incident to all our sex,Curiosity, inquisitive, importune775Of secrets, then with like infirmityTo publish them—both common female faults—Was it not weakness also to make known,For importunity, that is for nought,Wherein consisted all thy strength and safety?780To what I did thou showd'st me first the way.But I to enemies revealed, and should not;Nor should'st thou have trusted that to woman's frailty:Ere I to thee, thou to thyself wast cruel.Let weakness, then, with weakness come to parle,785So near related, or the same of kind;Thine forgive mine, that men may censure thineThe gentler, if severely thou exact notMore strength from me than in thyself was found.And what if love, which thou interpret'st hate,790The jealousy of love, powerful of swayIn human hearts, nor less in mine towards thee,Caused what I did? I saw thee mutableOf fancy, feared lest one day thou would'st leave meAs her at Timna; sought by all means, therefore,795How to endear, and hold thee to me firmest:No better way I saw than by importuningTo learn thy secrets, get into my powerThy key of strength and safety. Thou wilt say,'Why, then, revealed?' I was assured by those800Who tempted me, that nothing was designedAgainst thee but safe custody and hold.That made for me; I knew that libertyWould draw thee forth to perilous enterprises,While I at home sat full of cares and fears,805Wailing thy absence in my widowed bed;Here I should still enjoy thee, day and night,Mine and love's prisoner, not the Philistines',Whole to myself, unhazarded abroad,Fearless at home of partners in my love.810These reasons in love's law have passed for good,Though fond and reasonless to some perhaps;And love hath oft, well meaning, wrought much woe,Yet always pity or pardon hath obtained.Be not unlike all others, not austere815As thou art strong, inflexible as steel.If thou in strength all mortals dost exceed,In uncompassionate anger do not so.Samson.How cunningly the sorceress displaysHer own transgressions, to upbraid me mine!820That malice, not repentance, brought thee hither,By this appears. I gave, thou say'st, the example,I led the way; bitter reproach, but true;I to myself was false ere thou to me.Such pardon, therefore, as I give my folly,825Take to thy wicked deed; which when thou seestImpartial, self-severe, inexorable,Thou wilt renounce thy seeking, and much ratherConfess it feigned. Weakness is thy excuse,And I believe it—weakness to resist830Philistian gold. If weakness may excuse,What murtherer, what traitor, parricide,Incestuous, sacrilegious, but may plead it?All wickedness is weakness; that plea, therefore,With God or man will gain thee no remission.835But love constrained thee! call it furious rageTo satisfy thy lust. Love seeks to have love;My love how could'st thou hope, who took'st the wayTo raise in me inexpiable hate,Knowing, as needs I must, by thee betrayed?840In vain thou striv'st to cover shame with shame,Or by evasions thy crime uncover'st more.Dalila.Since thou determin'st weakness for no pleaIn man or woman, though to thy own condemning,Hear what assaults I had, what snares besides,845What sieges girt me round, ere I consented;Which might have awed the best-resolved of men,The constantest, to have yielded without blame.It was not gold, as to my charge thou lay'st,That wrought with me. Thou know'st the magistrates850And princes of my country came in person,Solicited, commanded, threatened, urged,Adjured by all the bonds of civil dutyAnd of religion; pressed how just it was,How honourable, how glorious, to entrap855A common enemy, who had destroyedSuch numbers of our nation: and the priestWas not behind, but ever at my ear,Preaching how meritorious with the godsIt would be to ensnare an irreligious860Dishonourer of Dagon. What had ITo oppose against such powerful arguments?Only my love of thee held long debate,And combated in silence all these reasonsWith hard contest. At length, that grounded maxim,865So rife and celebrated in the mouthsOf wisest men, that to the public goodPrivate respects must yield, with grave authorityTook full possession of me, and prevailed;Virtue, as I thought, truth, duty, so enjoining.870Samson.I thought where all thy circling wiles would end—In feigned religion, smooth hypocrisy!But, had thy love, still odiously pretended,Been, as it ought, sincere, it would have taught theeFar other reasonings, brought forth other deeds.875I, before all the daughters of my tribeAnd of my nation, chose thee from amongMy enemies, loved thee, as too well thou knew'st,Too well; unbosomed all my secrets to thee,Not out of levity, but overpowered880By thy request, who could deny thee nothing;Yet now am judged an enemy. Why, then,Didst thou at first receive me for thy husband,Then, as since then, thy country's foe professed?Being once a wife, for me thou wast to leave885Parents and country; nor was I their subject,Nor under their protection, but my own;Thou mine, not theirs. If aught against my lifeThy country sought of thee, it sought unjustly,Against the law of nature, law of nations;890No more thy country, but an impious crewOf men conspiring to uphold their stateBy worse than hostile deeds, violating the endsFor which our country is a name so dear;Not therefore to be obeyed. But zeal moved thee;895To please thy gods thou didst it! gods unableTo acquit themselves and prosecute their foesBut by ungodly deeds, the contradictionOf their own deity, gods cannot be;Less therefore to be pleased, obeyed, or feared.900These false pretexts and varnished colours failing,Bare in thy guilt, how foul must thou appear!Dalila.In argument with men a woman everGoes by the worse, whatever be her cause.Samson.For want of words, no doubt, or lack of breath!905Witness when I was worried with thy peals.Dalila.I was a fool, too rash, and quite mistakenIn what I thought would have succeeded best.Let me obtain forgiveness of thee, Samson;Afford me place to show what recompense910Towards thee I intend for what I have misdone,Misguided. Only what remains past cureBear not too sensibly, nor still insistTo afflict thyself in vain. Though sight be lost,Life yet hath many solaces, enjoyed915Where other senses want not their delights—At home, in leisure and domestic ease,Exempt from many a care and chance to whichEye-sight exposes, daily, men abroad.I to the lords will intercede, not doubting920Their favourable ear, that I may fetch theeFrom forth this loathsome prison-house, to abideWith me, where my redoubled love and care,With nursing diligence, to me glad office,May ever tend about thee to old age,925With all things grateful cheered, and so suppliedThat what by me thou hast lost thou least shalt miss.Samson.No, no; of my condition take no care;It fits not; thou and I long since are twain;Nor think me so unwary or accursed,930To bring my feet again into the snareWhere once I have been caught. I know thy trains,Though dearly to my cost, thy gins, and toils.Thy fair enchanted cup, and warbling charms,No more on me have power; their force is nulled;935So much of adder's wisdom I have learned,To fence my ear against thy sorceries.If in my flower of youth and strength, when all menLoved, honoured, feared me, thou alone could'st hate me,Thy husband, slight me, sell me, and forgo me,940How would'st thou use me now, blind, and therebyDeceivable, in most things as a childHelpless, thence easily contemned and scorned,And last neglected! How would'st thou insult,When I must live uxorious to thy will945In perfect thraldom! how again betray me,Bearing my words and doings to the lordsTo gloss upon, and, censuring, frown or smile!This jail I count the house of libertyTo thine, whose doors my feet shall never enter.950Dalila.Let me approach at least, and touch thy hand.Samson.Not for thy life, lest fierce remembrance wakeMy sudden rage to tear thee joint by joint.At distance I forgive thee; go with that;Bewail thy falsehood, and the pious works955It hath brought forth to make thee memorableAmong illustrious women, faithful wives;Cherish thy hastened widowhood with the goldOf matrimonial treason: so farewell.Dalila.I see thou art implacable, more deaf960To prayers than winds and seas; yet winds to seasAre reconciled at length, and sea to shore:Thy anger, unappeasable, still rages,Eternal tempest never to be calmed.Why do I humble thus myself, and, suing965For peace, reap nothing but repulse and hate?Bid go with evil omen, and the brandOf infamy upon my name denounced.To mix with thy concernments I desistHenceforth, nor too much disapprove my own.970Fame, if not double-faced, is double-mouthed,And with contráry blast proclaims most deeds;On both his wings, one black, the other white,Bears greatest names in his wild aery flight.My name, perhaps, among the Circumcised975In Dan, in Judah, and the bordering tribes,To all posterity may stand defamed,With malediction mentioned, and the blotOf falsehood most unconjugal traduced.But in my country, where I most desire,980In Ecron, Gaza, Asdod, and in Gath,I shall be named among the famousestOf women, sung at solemn festivals,Living and dead recorded, who, to saveHer country from a fierce destroyer, chose985Above the faith of wedlock-bands; my tombWith odours visited and annual flowers;Not less renowned than in mount EphraimJael, who, with inhospitable guile,Smote Sisera sleeping, through the temples nailed.990Nor shall I count it heinous to enjoyThe public marks of honour and rewardConferred upon me for the pietyWhich to my country I was judged to have shown.At this whoever envies or repines,995I leave him to his lot, and like my own.Chorus.She's gone—a manifest serpent by her stingDiscovered in the end, till now concealed.Samson.So let her go. God sent her to debase me,And aggravate my folly, who committed1000To such a viper his most sacred trustOf secrecy, my safety, and my life.Chorus.Yet beauty, though injurious, hath strange power,After offence returning, to regainLove once possessed, nor can be easily1005Repulsed, without much inward passion felt,And secret sting of amorous remorse.Samson.Love-quarrels oft in pleasing concord end,Not wedlock-treachery endangering life.Chorus.It is not virtue, wisdom, valour, wit,1010Strength, comeliness of shape, or amplest merit,That woman's love can win or long inherit;But what it is, hard is to say,Harder to hit,Which way soever men refer it1015(Much like thy riddle, Samson), in one dayOr seven, though one should musing sit.If any of these, or all, the Timnian brideHad not so soon preferredThy paranymph, worthless to thee compared,1020Successor in thy bed,Nor both so loosely disalliedTheir nuptials, nor this last so treacherouslyHad shorn the fatal harvest of thy head.Is it for that such outward ornament1025Was lavished on their sex, that inward giftsWere left for haste unfinished, judgment scant,Capacity not raised to apprehendOr value what is bestIn choice, but oftest to affect the wrong?1030Or was too much of self-love mixed,Of constancy no root infixed,That either they love nothing, or not long?Whate'er it be, to wisest men and best,Seeming at first all heavenly under virgin veil,1035Soft, modest, meek, demure,Once joined, the contrary she proves—a thornIntestine, far within defensive armsA cleaving mischief, in his way to virtueAdverse and turbulent; or by her charms1040Draws him awry, enslavedWith dotage, and his sense depravedTo folly and shameful deeds which ruin ends.What pilot so expert but needs must wreck,Embarked with such a steers-mate at the helm?1045Favoured of heaven who findsOne virtuous, rarely found,That in domestic good combines!Happy that house! his way to peace is smooth:But virtue which breaks through all opposition,1050And all temptation can remove,Most shines and most is acceptable above.Therefore God's universal lawGave to the man despotic powerOver his female in due awe,1055Nor from that right to part an hour,Smile she or lour:So shall he least confusion drawOn his whole life, not swayedBy female usurpation, nor dismayed.1060But had we best retire? I see a storm.Samson.Fair days have oft contracted wind and rain.Chorus.But this another kind of tempest brings.Samson.Be less abstruse; my riddling days are past.Chorus.Look now for no enchanting voice, nor fear1065The bait of honied words; a rougher tongueDraws hitherward; I know him by his stride,The giant Harapha of Gath, his lookHaughty, as is his pile high-built and proud.Comes he in peace? what wind hath blown him hither1070I less conjecture than when first I sawThe sumptuous Dalila floating this way:His habit carries peace, his brow defiance.Samson.Or peace or not, alike to me he comes.Chorus.His fraught we soon shall know: he now arrives.1075Harapha.I come not, Samson, to condole thy chance,As these perhaps, yet wish it had not been,Though for no friendly intent. I am of Gath;Men call me Harapha, of stock renownedAs Og, or Anak, and the Emims old1080That Kiriathaim held. Thou know'st me now,If thou at all art known. Much I have heardOf thy prodigious might and feats performed,Incredible to me,—in this displeased,That I was never present on the place1085Of those encounters, where we might have triedEach other's force in camp or listed field;And now am come to see of whom such noiseHath walked about, and each limb to survey,If thy appearance answer loud report.1090Samson.The way to know were not to see, but taste.Harapha.Dost thou already single me? I thoughtGyves and the mill had tamed thee. Oh, that fortuneHad brought me to the field, where thou art famedTo have wrought such wonders with an ass's jaw!1095I should have forced thee soon with other arms,Or left thy carcass where the ass lay thrown;So had the glory of prowess been recoveredTo Palestine, won by a PhilistineFrom the unforeskinned race, of whom thou bear'st1100The highest name for valiant acts; that honour,Certain to have won by mortal duel from thee,I lose, prevented by thy eyes put out.Samson.Boast not of what thou would'st have done, but doWhat then thou would'st; thou seest it in thy hand.1105Harapha.To combat with a blind man I disdain,And thou hast need much washing to be touched.Samson.Such usage as your honourable lordsAfford me, assassinated and betrayed;Who durst not with their whole united powers1110In fight withstand me single and unarmed,Nor in the house with chamber-ambushesClose-banded durst attack me, no, not sleeping,Till they had hired a woman with their gold,Breaking her marriage-faith, to circumvent me.1115Therefore, without feigned shifts, let be assignedSome narrow place enclosed, where sight may give thee,Or rather flight, no great advantage on me;Then put on all thy gorgeous arms, thy helmetAnd brigandine of brass, thy broad habergeon,1120Vant-brace and greaves and gauntlet; add thy spear,A weaver's beam, and seven-times-folded shield:I only with an oaken staff will meet thee,And raise such outcries on thy clattered iron,Which long shall not withhold me from thy head,1125That in a little time while breath remains thee,Thou oft shalt wish thyself at Gath, to boastAgain in safety what thou would'st have doneTo Samson, but shalt never see Gath more.Harapha.Thou durst not thus disparage glorious arms,1130Which greatest heroes have in battle worn,Their ornament and safety, had not spellsAnd black enchantments, some magician's art,Armed thee or charmed thee strong, which thou from HeavenFeign'dst at thy birth was given thee in thy hair,1135Where strength can least abide, though all thy hairsWere bristles ranged like those that ridge the backOf chafed wild boars or ruffled porcupines.Samson.I know no spells, use no forbidden arts;My trust is in the Living God, who gave me,1140At my nativity, this strength, diffusedNo less through all my sinews, joints, and bones,Than thine, while I preserved these locks unshorn,The pledge of my unviolated vow.For proof hereof, if Dagon be thy god,1145Go to his temple, invocate his aidWith solemnest devotion, spread before himHow highly it concerns his glory nowTo frustrate and dissolve these magic spells,Which I to be the power of Israel's God1150Avow, and challenge Dagon to the test,Offering to combat thee, his champion bold,With the utmost of his godhead seconded:Then thou shalt see, or rather to thy sorrowSoon feel, whose God is strongest, thine or mine.1155Harapha.Presume not on thy God. Whate'er he be,Thee he regards not, owns not, hath cut offQuite from his people, and delivered upInto thy enemies' hand; permitted themTo put out both thine eyes, and fettered send thee1160Into the common prison, there to grindAmong the slaves and asses, thy comrades,As good for nothing else, no better serviceWith those thy boisterous locks; no worthy matchFor valour to assail, nor by the sword1165Of noble warrior, so to stain his honour,But by the barber's razor best subdued.Samson.All these indignities, for such they areFrom thine, these evils I deserve and more,Acknowledge them from God inflicted on me1170Justly, yet despair not of his final pardon,Whose ear is ever open, and his eyeGracious to re-admit the suppliant;In confidence whereof I once againDefy thee to the trial of mortal fight,1175By combat to decide whose god is God,Thine, or whom I with Israel's sons adore.Harapha.Fair honour that thou doest thy God, in trustingHe will accept thee to defend his cause,A murtherer, a revolter, and a robber!1180Samson.Tongue-doughty giant, how dost thou prove me these?Harapha.Is not thy nation subject to our lords?Their magistrates confessed it, when they took theeAs a league-breaker, and delivered boundInto our hands: for hadst thou not committed1185Notorious murder on those thirty menAt Ascalon, who never did thee harm,Then, like a robber, stripp'dst them of their robes?The Philistines, when thou hadst broke the league,Went up with armed powers thee only seeking,1190To others did no violence nor spoil.Samson.Among the daughters of the PhilistinesI chose a wife, which argued me no foe,And in your city held my nuptial feast;But your ill-meaning politician lords,1195Under pretence of bridal friends and guests,Appointed to await me thirty spies,Who, threatening cruel death, constrained the brideTo wring from me, and tell to them, my secret,That solved the riddle which I had proposed.1200When I perceived all set on enmity,As on my enemies, wherever chanced,I used hostility, and took their spoil,To pay my underminers in their coin.My nation was subjected to your lords!1205It was the force of conquest; force with forceIs well ejected when the conquered can.But I, a private person, whom my countryAs a league-breaker gave up bound, presumedSingle rebellion, and did hostile acts!1210I was no private, but a person raised,With strength sufficient, and command from Heaven,To free my country. If their servile mindsMe, their deliverer sent, would not receive,But to their masters gave me up for nought,1215The unworthier they; whence to this day they serve.I was to do my part from Heaven assigned,And had performed it, if my known offenceHad not disabled me, not all your force.These shifts refuted, answer thy appellant,1220Though by his blindness maimed for high attempts,Who now defies thee thrice to single fight,As a petty enterprise of small enforce.
Samson.Oh, that torment should not be confinedTo the body's wounds and sores,With maladies innumerableIn heart, head, breast, and reins,But must secret passage find610To the inmost mind,There exercise all his fierce accidents,And on her purest spirits prey,As on entrails, joints, and limbs,With answerable pains, but more intense,615Though void of corporal sense!My griefs not only pain meAs a lingering disease,But, finding no redress, ferment and rage;Nor less than wounds immedicable620Rankle, and fester, and gangrene,To black mortification.Thoughts, my tormentors, armed with deadly stings,Mangle my apprehensive tenderest parts,Exasperate, exulcerate, and raise625Dire inflammation, which no cooling herbOr medicinal liquor can assuage,Nor breath of vernal air from snowy Alp.Sleep hath forsook and given me o'erTo death's benumbing opium as my only cure;630Thence faintings, swoonings of despair,And sense of Heaven's desertion.I was his nursling once and choice delight,His, destined from the womb,Promised by heavenly message twice descending.635Under his special eyeAbstemious I grew up and thrived amain;He led me on to mightiest deeds,Above the nerve of mortal arm,Against the Uncircumcised, our enemies:640But now hath cast me off as never known,And to those cruel enemies,Whom I by his appointment had provoked,Left me all helpless, with the irreparable lossOf sight, reserved alive to be repeated645The subject of their cruelty or scorn.Nor am I in the list of them that hope;Hopeless are all my evils, all remediless.This one prayer yet remains, might I be heard,No long petition, speedy death,650The close of all my miseries, and the balm.Chorus.Many are the sayings of the wise,In ancient and in modern books enrolled,Extolling patience as the truest fortitude,And to the bearing well of all calamities,655All chances incident to man's frail life,Consolatories writWith studied argument, and much persuasion sought,Lenient of grief and anxious thought.But with the afflicted in his pangs their sound660Little prevails, or rather seems a tuneHarsh, and of dissonant mood from his complaint,Unless he feel withinSome source of consolation from above,Secret refreshings that repair his strength665And fainting spirits uphold.God of our fathers! what is Man,That thou towards him with hand so various—Or might I say contrarious?—Temper'st thy providence through his short course:670Not evenly, as thou rul'stThe angelic orders, and inferior creatures mute,Irrational and brute?Nor do I name of men the common rout,That, wand'ring loose about,675Grow up and perish, as the summer fly,Heads without name, no more rememberèd;But such as thou hast solemnly elected,With gifts and graces eminently adorned,To some great work, thy glory,680And people's safety, which in part they effect.Yet toward these thus dignified, thou oft,Amidst their highth of noon,Changest thy countenance and thy hand, with no regardOf highest favours past685From thee on them, or them to thee of service.Nor only dost degrade them, or remitTo life obscured, which were a fair dismission,But throw'st them lower than thou didst exalt them high—Unseemly falls in human eye,690Too grievous for the trespass or omission;Oft leav'st them to the hostile swordOf heathen and profane, their carcassesTo dogs and fowls a prey, or else captived,Or to the unjust tribunals, under change of times,695And condemnation of the ingrateful multitude.If these they scape, perhaps in povertyWith sickness and disease thou bow'st them down,Painful diseases and deformed,In crude old age;700Though not disordinate, yet causeless sufferingThe punishment of dissolute days. In fine,Just or unjust alike seem miserable,For oft alike both come to evil end.So deal not with this once thy glorious champion,705The image of thy strength, and mighty minister.What do I beg? how hast thou dealt already!Behold him in this state calamitous, and turnHis labours, for thou canst, to peaceful end.But who is this? what thing of sea or land?710—Female of sex it seems—That so bedecked, ornate, and gay,Comes this way sailing,Like a stately shipOf Tarsus, bound for the isles715Of Javan or Gadire,With all her bravery on, and tackle trim,Sails filled, and streamers waving,Courted by all the winds that hold them play,An amber scent of odorous perfume720Her harbinger, a damsel train behind;Some rich Philistian matron she may seem,And now, at nearer view, no other certainThan Dalila thy wife.Samson.My wife? my traitress; let her not come near me.725Chorus.Yet on she moves; now stands and eyes thee fixed,About to have spoke; but now, with head declined,Like a fair flower surcharged with dew, she weeps,And words addressed seem into tears dissolved,Wetting the borders of her silken veil.730But now again she makes address to speak.Dalila.With doubtful feet and wavering resolutionI came, still dreading thy displeasure, Samson,Which to have merited, without excuse,I cannot but acknowledge; yet if tears735May expiate (though the fact more evil drewIn the perverse event than I foresaw),My penance hath not slackened, though my pardonNo way assured. But conjugal affection,Prevailing over fear and timorous doubt,740Hath led me on, desirous to beholdOnce more thy face, and know of thy estate,If aught in my ability may serveTo lighten what thou sufferest, and appeaseThy mind with what amends is in my power,745Though late, yet in some part to recompenseMy rash but more unfortunate misdeed.Samson.Out, out, hyæna! these are thy wonted arts,And arts of every woman false like thee—To break all faith, all vows, deceive, betray;750Then, as repentant, to submit, beseech,And reconcilement move with feigned remorse,Confess, and promise wonders in her change—Not truly penitent, but chief to tryHer husband, how far urged his patience bears,755His virtue or weakness which way to assail:Then, with more cautious and instructed skill,Again transgresses, and again submits;That wisest and best men, full oft beguiled,With goodness principled not to reject760The penitent, but ever to forgive,Are drawn to wear out miserable days,Entangled with a poisonous bosom-snake,If not by quick destruction soon cut off,As I by thee, to ages an example.765Dalila.Yet hear me, Samson; not that I endeavourTo lessen or extenuate my offence,But that, on the other side, if it be weighedBy itself, with aggravations not surcharged,Or else with just allowance counterpoised,770I may, if possible, thy pardon findThe easier towards me, or thy hatred less.First granting, as I do, it was a weaknessIn me, but incident to all our sex,Curiosity, inquisitive, importune775Of secrets, then with like infirmityTo publish them—both common female faults—Was it not weakness also to make known,For importunity, that is for nought,Wherein consisted all thy strength and safety?780To what I did thou showd'st me first the way.But I to enemies revealed, and should not;Nor should'st thou have trusted that to woman's frailty:Ere I to thee, thou to thyself wast cruel.Let weakness, then, with weakness come to parle,785So near related, or the same of kind;Thine forgive mine, that men may censure thineThe gentler, if severely thou exact notMore strength from me than in thyself was found.And what if love, which thou interpret'st hate,790The jealousy of love, powerful of swayIn human hearts, nor less in mine towards thee,Caused what I did? I saw thee mutableOf fancy, feared lest one day thou would'st leave meAs her at Timna; sought by all means, therefore,795How to endear, and hold thee to me firmest:No better way I saw than by importuningTo learn thy secrets, get into my powerThy key of strength and safety. Thou wilt say,'Why, then, revealed?' I was assured by those800Who tempted me, that nothing was designedAgainst thee but safe custody and hold.That made for me; I knew that libertyWould draw thee forth to perilous enterprises,While I at home sat full of cares and fears,805Wailing thy absence in my widowed bed;Here I should still enjoy thee, day and night,Mine and love's prisoner, not the Philistines',Whole to myself, unhazarded abroad,Fearless at home of partners in my love.810These reasons in love's law have passed for good,Though fond and reasonless to some perhaps;And love hath oft, well meaning, wrought much woe,Yet always pity or pardon hath obtained.Be not unlike all others, not austere815As thou art strong, inflexible as steel.If thou in strength all mortals dost exceed,In uncompassionate anger do not so.Samson.How cunningly the sorceress displaysHer own transgressions, to upbraid me mine!820That malice, not repentance, brought thee hither,By this appears. I gave, thou say'st, the example,I led the way; bitter reproach, but true;I to myself was false ere thou to me.Such pardon, therefore, as I give my folly,825Take to thy wicked deed; which when thou seestImpartial, self-severe, inexorable,Thou wilt renounce thy seeking, and much ratherConfess it feigned. Weakness is thy excuse,And I believe it—weakness to resist830Philistian gold. If weakness may excuse,What murtherer, what traitor, parricide,Incestuous, sacrilegious, but may plead it?All wickedness is weakness; that plea, therefore,With God or man will gain thee no remission.835But love constrained thee! call it furious rageTo satisfy thy lust. Love seeks to have love;My love how could'st thou hope, who took'st the wayTo raise in me inexpiable hate,Knowing, as needs I must, by thee betrayed?840In vain thou striv'st to cover shame with shame,Or by evasions thy crime uncover'st more.Dalila.Since thou determin'st weakness for no pleaIn man or woman, though to thy own condemning,Hear what assaults I had, what snares besides,845What sieges girt me round, ere I consented;Which might have awed the best-resolved of men,The constantest, to have yielded without blame.It was not gold, as to my charge thou lay'st,That wrought with me. Thou know'st the magistrates850And princes of my country came in person,Solicited, commanded, threatened, urged,Adjured by all the bonds of civil dutyAnd of religion; pressed how just it was,How honourable, how glorious, to entrap855A common enemy, who had destroyedSuch numbers of our nation: and the priestWas not behind, but ever at my ear,Preaching how meritorious with the godsIt would be to ensnare an irreligious860Dishonourer of Dagon. What had ITo oppose against such powerful arguments?Only my love of thee held long debate,And combated in silence all these reasonsWith hard contest. At length, that grounded maxim,865So rife and celebrated in the mouthsOf wisest men, that to the public goodPrivate respects must yield, with grave authorityTook full possession of me, and prevailed;Virtue, as I thought, truth, duty, so enjoining.870Samson.I thought where all thy circling wiles would end—In feigned religion, smooth hypocrisy!But, had thy love, still odiously pretended,Been, as it ought, sincere, it would have taught theeFar other reasonings, brought forth other deeds.875I, before all the daughters of my tribeAnd of my nation, chose thee from amongMy enemies, loved thee, as too well thou knew'st,Too well; unbosomed all my secrets to thee,Not out of levity, but overpowered880By thy request, who could deny thee nothing;Yet now am judged an enemy. Why, then,Didst thou at first receive me for thy husband,Then, as since then, thy country's foe professed?Being once a wife, for me thou wast to leave885Parents and country; nor was I their subject,Nor under their protection, but my own;Thou mine, not theirs. If aught against my lifeThy country sought of thee, it sought unjustly,Against the law of nature, law of nations;890No more thy country, but an impious crewOf men conspiring to uphold their stateBy worse than hostile deeds, violating the endsFor which our country is a name so dear;Not therefore to be obeyed. But zeal moved thee;895To please thy gods thou didst it! gods unableTo acquit themselves and prosecute their foesBut by ungodly deeds, the contradictionOf their own deity, gods cannot be;Less therefore to be pleased, obeyed, or feared.900These false pretexts and varnished colours failing,Bare in thy guilt, how foul must thou appear!Dalila.In argument with men a woman everGoes by the worse, whatever be her cause.Samson.For want of words, no doubt, or lack of breath!905Witness when I was worried with thy peals.Dalila.I was a fool, too rash, and quite mistakenIn what I thought would have succeeded best.Let me obtain forgiveness of thee, Samson;Afford me place to show what recompense910Towards thee I intend for what I have misdone,Misguided. Only what remains past cureBear not too sensibly, nor still insistTo afflict thyself in vain. Though sight be lost,Life yet hath many solaces, enjoyed915Where other senses want not their delights—At home, in leisure and domestic ease,Exempt from many a care and chance to whichEye-sight exposes, daily, men abroad.I to the lords will intercede, not doubting920Their favourable ear, that I may fetch theeFrom forth this loathsome prison-house, to abideWith me, where my redoubled love and care,With nursing diligence, to me glad office,May ever tend about thee to old age,925With all things grateful cheered, and so suppliedThat what by me thou hast lost thou least shalt miss.Samson.No, no; of my condition take no care;It fits not; thou and I long since are twain;Nor think me so unwary or accursed,930To bring my feet again into the snareWhere once I have been caught. I know thy trains,Though dearly to my cost, thy gins, and toils.Thy fair enchanted cup, and warbling charms,No more on me have power; their force is nulled;935So much of adder's wisdom I have learned,To fence my ear against thy sorceries.If in my flower of youth and strength, when all menLoved, honoured, feared me, thou alone could'st hate me,Thy husband, slight me, sell me, and forgo me,940How would'st thou use me now, blind, and therebyDeceivable, in most things as a childHelpless, thence easily contemned and scorned,And last neglected! How would'st thou insult,When I must live uxorious to thy will945In perfect thraldom! how again betray me,Bearing my words and doings to the lordsTo gloss upon, and, censuring, frown or smile!This jail I count the house of libertyTo thine, whose doors my feet shall never enter.950Dalila.Let me approach at least, and touch thy hand.Samson.Not for thy life, lest fierce remembrance wakeMy sudden rage to tear thee joint by joint.At distance I forgive thee; go with that;Bewail thy falsehood, and the pious works955It hath brought forth to make thee memorableAmong illustrious women, faithful wives;Cherish thy hastened widowhood with the goldOf matrimonial treason: so farewell.Dalila.I see thou art implacable, more deaf960To prayers than winds and seas; yet winds to seasAre reconciled at length, and sea to shore:Thy anger, unappeasable, still rages,Eternal tempest never to be calmed.Why do I humble thus myself, and, suing965For peace, reap nothing but repulse and hate?Bid go with evil omen, and the brandOf infamy upon my name denounced.To mix with thy concernments I desistHenceforth, nor too much disapprove my own.970Fame, if not double-faced, is double-mouthed,And with contráry blast proclaims most deeds;On both his wings, one black, the other white,Bears greatest names in his wild aery flight.My name, perhaps, among the Circumcised975In Dan, in Judah, and the bordering tribes,To all posterity may stand defamed,With malediction mentioned, and the blotOf falsehood most unconjugal traduced.But in my country, where I most desire,980In Ecron, Gaza, Asdod, and in Gath,I shall be named among the famousestOf women, sung at solemn festivals,Living and dead recorded, who, to saveHer country from a fierce destroyer, chose985Above the faith of wedlock-bands; my tombWith odours visited and annual flowers;Not less renowned than in mount EphraimJael, who, with inhospitable guile,Smote Sisera sleeping, through the temples nailed.990Nor shall I count it heinous to enjoyThe public marks of honour and rewardConferred upon me for the pietyWhich to my country I was judged to have shown.At this whoever envies or repines,995I leave him to his lot, and like my own.Chorus.She's gone—a manifest serpent by her stingDiscovered in the end, till now concealed.Samson.So let her go. God sent her to debase me,And aggravate my folly, who committed1000To such a viper his most sacred trustOf secrecy, my safety, and my life.Chorus.Yet beauty, though injurious, hath strange power,After offence returning, to regainLove once possessed, nor can be easily1005Repulsed, without much inward passion felt,And secret sting of amorous remorse.Samson.Love-quarrels oft in pleasing concord end,Not wedlock-treachery endangering life.Chorus.It is not virtue, wisdom, valour, wit,1010Strength, comeliness of shape, or amplest merit,That woman's love can win or long inherit;But what it is, hard is to say,Harder to hit,Which way soever men refer it1015(Much like thy riddle, Samson), in one dayOr seven, though one should musing sit.If any of these, or all, the Timnian brideHad not so soon preferredThy paranymph, worthless to thee compared,1020Successor in thy bed,Nor both so loosely disalliedTheir nuptials, nor this last so treacherouslyHad shorn the fatal harvest of thy head.Is it for that such outward ornament1025Was lavished on their sex, that inward giftsWere left for haste unfinished, judgment scant,Capacity not raised to apprehendOr value what is bestIn choice, but oftest to affect the wrong?1030Or was too much of self-love mixed,Of constancy no root infixed,That either they love nothing, or not long?Whate'er it be, to wisest men and best,Seeming at first all heavenly under virgin veil,1035Soft, modest, meek, demure,Once joined, the contrary she proves—a thornIntestine, far within defensive armsA cleaving mischief, in his way to virtueAdverse and turbulent; or by her charms1040Draws him awry, enslavedWith dotage, and his sense depravedTo folly and shameful deeds which ruin ends.What pilot so expert but needs must wreck,Embarked with such a steers-mate at the helm?1045Favoured of heaven who findsOne virtuous, rarely found,That in domestic good combines!Happy that house! his way to peace is smooth:But virtue which breaks through all opposition,1050And all temptation can remove,Most shines and most is acceptable above.Therefore God's universal lawGave to the man despotic powerOver his female in due awe,1055Nor from that right to part an hour,Smile she or lour:So shall he least confusion drawOn his whole life, not swayedBy female usurpation, nor dismayed.1060But had we best retire? I see a storm.Samson.Fair days have oft contracted wind and rain.Chorus.But this another kind of tempest brings.Samson.Be less abstruse; my riddling days are past.Chorus.Look now for no enchanting voice, nor fear1065The bait of honied words; a rougher tongueDraws hitherward; I know him by his stride,The giant Harapha of Gath, his lookHaughty, as is his pile high-built and proud.Comes he in peace? what wind hath blown him hither1070I less conjecture than when first I sawThe sumptuous Dalila floating this way:His habit carries peace, his brow defiance.Samson.Or peace or not, alike to me he comes.Chorus.His fraught we soon shall know: he now arrives.1075Harapha.I come not, Samson, to condole thy chance,As these perhaps, yet wish it had not been,Though for no friendly intent. I am of Gath;Men call me Harapha, of stock renownedAs Og, or Anak, and the Emims old1080That Kiriathaim held. Thou know'st me now,If thou at all art known. Much I have heardOf thy prodigious might and feats performed,Incredible to me,—in this displeased,That I was never present on the place1085Of those encounters, where we might have triedEach other's force in camp or listed field;And now am come to see of whom such noiseHath walked about, and each limb to survey,If thy appearance answer loud report.1090Samson.The way to know were not to see, but taste.Harapha.Dost thou already single me? I thoughtGyves and the mill had tamed thee. Oh, that fortuneHad brought me to the field, where thou art famedTo have wrought such wonders with an ass's jaw!1095I should have forced thee soon with other arms,Or left thy carcass where the ass lay thrown;So had the glory of prowess been recoveredTo Palestine, won by a PhilistineFrom the unforeskinned race, of whom thou bear'st1100The highest name for valiant acts; that honour,Certain to have won by mortal duel from thee,I lose, prevented by thy eyes put out.Samson.Boast not of what thou would'st have done, but doWhat then thou would'st; thou seest it in thy hand.1105Harapha.To combat with a blind man I disdain,And thou hast need much washing to be touched.Samson.Such usage as your honourable lordsAfford me, assassinated and betrayed;Who durst not with their whole united powers1110In fight withstand me single and unarmed,Nor in the house with chamber-ambushesClose-banded durst attack me, no, not sleeping,Till they had hired a woman with their gold,Breaking her marriage-faith, to circumvent me.1115Therefore, without feigned shifts, let be assignedSome narrow place enclosed, where sight may give thee,Or rather flight, no great advantage on me;Then put on all thy gorgeous arms, thy helmetAnd brigandine of brass, thy broad habergeon,1120Vant-brace and greaves and gauntlet; add thy spear,A weaver's beam, and seven-times-folded shield:I only with an oaken staff will meet thee,And raise such outcries on thy clattered iron,Which long shall not withhold me from thy head,1125That in a little time while breath remains thee,Thou oft shalt wish thyself at Gath, to boastAgain in safety what thou would'st have doneTo Samson, but shalt never see Gath more.Harapha.Thou durst not thus disparage glorious arms,1130Which greatest heroes have in battle worn,Their ornament and safety, had not spellsAnd black enchantments, some magician's art,Armed thee or charmed thee strong, which thou from HeavenFeign'dst at thy birth was given thee in thy hair,1135Where strength can least abide, though all thy hairsWere bristles ranged like those that ridge the backOf chafed wild boars or ruffled porcupines.Samson.I know no spells, use no forbidden arts;My trust is in the Living God, who gave me,1140At my nativity, this strength, diffusedNo less through all my sinews, joints, and bones,Than thine, while I preserved these locks unshorn,The pledge of my unviolated vow.For proof hereof, if Dagon be thy god,1145Go to his temple, invocate his aidWith solemnest devotion, spread before himHow highly it concerns his glory nowTo frustrate and dissolve these magic spells,Which I to be the power of Israel's God1150Avow, and challenge Dagon to the test,Offering to combat thee, his champion bold,With the utmost of his godhead seconded:Then thou shalt see, or rather to thy sorrowSoon feel, whose God is strongest, thine or mine.1155Harapha.Presume not on thy God. Whate'er he be,Thee he regards not, owns not, hath cut offQuite from his people, and delivered upInto thy enemies' hand; permitted themTo put out both thine eyes, and fettered send thee1160Into the common prison, there to grindAmong the slaves and asses, thy comrades,As good for nothing else, no better serviceWith those thy boisterous locks; no worthy matchFor valour to assail, nor by the sword1165Of noble warrior, so to stain his honour,But by the barber's razor best subdued.Samson.All these indignities, for such they areFrom thine, these evils I deserve and more,Acknowledge them from God inflicted on me1170Justly, yet despair not of his final pardon,Whose ear is ever open, and his eyeGracious to re-admit the suppliant;In confidence whereof I once againDefy thee to the trial of mortal fight,1175By combat to decide whose god is God,Thine, or whom I with Israel's sons adore.Harapha.Fair honour that thou doest thy God, in trustingHe will accept thee to defend his cause,A murtherer, a revolter, and a robber!1180Samson.Tongue-doughty giant, how dost thou prove me these?Harapha.Is not thy nation subject to our lords?Their magistrates confessed it, when they took theeAs a league-breaker, and delivered boundInto our hands: for hadst thou not committed1185Notorious murder on those thirty menAt Ascalon, who never did thee harm,Then, like a robber, stripp'dst them of their robes?The Philistines, when thou hadst broke the league,Went up with armed powers thee only seeking,1190To others did no violence nor spoil.Samson.Among the daughters of the PhilistinesI chose a wife, which argued me no foe,And in your city held my nuptial feast;But your ill-meaning politician lords,1195Under pretence of bridal friends and guests,Appointed to await me thirty spies,Who, threatening cruel death, constrained the brideTo wring from me, and tell to them, my secret,That solved the riddle which I had proposed.1200When I perceived all set on enmity,As on my enemies, wherever chanced,I used hostility, and took their spoil,To pay my underminers in their coin.My nation was subjected to your lords!1205It was the force of conquest; force with forceIs well ejected when the conquered can.But I, a private person, whom my countryAs a league-breaker gave up bound, presumedSingle rebellion, and did hostile acts!1210I was no private, but a person raised,With strength sufficient, and command from Heaven,To free my country. If their servile mindsMe, their deliverer sent, would not receive,But to their masters gave me up for nought,1215The unworthier they; whence to this day they serve.I was to do my part from Heaven assigned,And had performed it, if my known offenceHad not disabled me, not all your force.These shifts refuted, answer thy appellant,1220Though by his blindness maimed for high attempts,Who now defies thee thrice to single fight,As a petty enterprise of small enforce.
Samson.Oh, that torment should not be confinedTo the body's wounds and sores,With maladies innumerableIn heart, head, breast, and reins,But must secret passage find610To the inmost mind,There exercise all his fierce accidents,And on her purest spirits prey,As on entrails, joints, and limbs,With answerable pains, but more intense,615Though void of corporal sense!My griefs not only pain meAs a lingering disease,But, finding no redress, ferment and rage;Nor less than wounds immedicable620Rankle, and fester, and gangrene,To black mortification.Thoughts, my tormentors, armed with deadly stings,Mangle my apprehensive tenderest parts,Exasperate, exulcerate, and raise625Dire inflammation, which no cooling herbOr medicinal liquor can assuage,Nor breath of vernal air from snowy Alp.Sleep hath forsook and given me o'erTo death's benumbing opium as my only cure;630Thence faintings, swoonings of despair,And sense of Heaven's desertion.I was his nursling once and choice delight,His, destined from the womb,Promised by heavenly message twice descending.635Under his special eyeAbstemious I grew up and thrived amain;He led me on to mightiest deeds,Above the nerve of mortal arm,Against the Uncircumcised, our enemies:640But now hath cast me off as never known,And to those cruel enemies,Whom I by his appointment had provoked,Left me all helpless, with the irreparable lossOf sight, reserved alive to be repeated645The subject of their cruelty or scorn.Nor am I in the list of them that hope;Hopeless are all my evils, all remediless.This one prayer yet remains, might I be heard,No long petition, speedy death,650The close of all my miseries, and the balm.
Samson.Oh, that torment should not be confined
To the body's wounds and sores,
With maladies innumerable
In heart, head, breast, and reins,
But must secret passage find610
To the inmost mind,
There exercise all his fierce accidents,
And on her purest spirits prey,
As on entrails, joints, and limbs,
With answerable pains, but more intense,615
Though void of corporal sense!
My griefs not only pain me
As a lingering disease,
But, finding no redress, ferment and rage;
Nor less than wounds immedicable620
Rankle, and fester, and gangrene,
To black mortification.
Thoughts, my tormentors, armed with deadly stings,
Mangle my apprehensive tenderest parts,
Exasperate, exulcerate, and raise625
Dire inflammation, which no cooling herb
Or medicinal liquor can assuage,
Nor breath of vernal air from snowy Alp.
Sleep hath forsook and given me o'er
To death's benumbing opium as my only cure;630
Thence faintings, swoonings of despair,
And sense of Heaven's desertion.
I was his nursling once and choice delight,
His, destined from the womb,
Promised by heavenly message twice descending.635
Under his special eye
Abstemious I grew up and thrived amain;
He led me on to mightiest deeds,
Above the nerve of mortal arm,
Against the Uncircumcised, our enemies:640
But now hath cast me off as never known,
And to those cruel enemies,
Whom I by his appointment had provoked,
Left me all helpless, with the irreparable loss
Of sight, reserved alive to be repeated645
The subject of their cruelty or scorn.
Nor am I in the list of them that hope;
Hopeless are all my evils, all remediless.
This one prayer yet remains, might I be heard,
No long petition, speedy death,650
The close of all my miseries, and the balm.
Chorus.Many are the sayings of the wise,In ancient and in modern books enrolled,Extolling patience as the truest fortitude,And to the bearing well of all calamities,655All chances incident to man's frail life,Consolatories writWith studied argument, and much persuasion sought,Lenient of grief and anxious thought.But with the afflicted in his pangs their sound660Little prevails, or rather seems a tuneHarsh, and of dissonant mood from his complaint,Unless he feel withinSome source of consolation from above,Secret refreshings that repair his strength665And fainting spirits uphold.God of our fathers! what is Man,That thou towards him with hand so various—Or might I say contrarious?—Temper'st thy providence through his short course:670Not evenly, as thou rul'stThe angelic orders, and inferior creatures mute,Irrational and brute?Nor do I name of men the common rout,That, wand'ring loose about,675Grow up and perish, as the summer fly,Heads without name, no more rememberèd;But such as thou hast solemnly elected,With gifts and graces eminently adorned,To some great work, thy glory,680And people's safety, which in part they effect.Yet toward these thus dignified, thou oft,Amidst their highth of noon,Changest thy countenance and thy hand, with no regardOf highest favours past685From thee on them, or them to thee of service.Nor only dost degrade them, or remitTo life obscured, which were a fair dismission,But throw'st them lower than thou didst exalt them high—Unseemly falls in human eye,690Too grievous for the trespass or omission;Oft leav'st them to the hostile swordOf heathen and profane, their carcassesTo dogs and fowls a prey, or else captived,Or to the unjust tribunals, under change of times,695And condemnation of the ingrateful multitude.If these they scape, perhaps in povertyWith sickness and disease thou bow'st them down,Painful diseases and deformed,In crude old age;700Though not disordinate, yet causeless sufferingThe punishment of dissolute days. In fine,Just or unjust alike seem miserable,For oft alike both come to evil end.So deal not with this once thy glorious champion,705The image of thy strength, and mighty minister.What do I beg? how hast thou dealt already!Behold him in this state calamitous, and turnHis labours, for thou canst, to peaceful end.But who is this? what thing of sea or land?710—Female of sex it seems—That so bedecked, ornate, and gay,Comes this way sailing,Like a stately shipOf Tarsus, bound for the isles715Of Javan or Gadire,With all her bravery on, and tackle trim,Sails filled, and streamers waving,Courted by all the winds that hold them play,An amber scent of odorous perfume720Her harbinger, a damsel train behind;Some rich Philistian matron she may seem,And now, at nearer view, no other certainThan Dalila thy wife.
Chorus.Many are the sayings of the wise,
In ancient and in modern books enrolled,
Extolling patience as the truest fortitude,
And to the bearing well of all calamities,655
All chances incident to man's frail life,
Consolatories writ
With studied argument, and much persuasion sought,
Lenient of grief and anxious thought.
But with the afflicted in his pangs their sound660
Little prevails, or rather seems a tune
Harsh, and of dissonant mood from his complaint,
Unless he feel within
Some source of consolation from above,
Secret refreshings that repair his strength665
And fainting spirits uphold.
God of our fathers! what is Man,
That thou towards him with hand so various—
Or might I say contrarious?—
Temper'st thy providence through his short course:670
Not evenly, as thou rul'st
The angelic orders, and inferior creatures mute,
Irrational and brute?
Nor do I name of men the common rout,
That, wand'ring loose about,675
Grow up and perish, as the summer fly,
Heads without name, no more rememberèd;
But such as thou hast solemnly elected,
With gifts and graces eminently adorned,
To some great work, thy glory,680
And people's safety, which in part they effect.
Yet toward these thus dignified, thou oft,
Amidst their highth of noon,
Changest thy countenance and thy hand, with no regard
Of highest favours past685
From thee on them, or them to thee of service.
Nor only dost degrade them, or remit
To life obscured, which were a fair dismission,
But throw'st them lower than thou didst exalt them high
—Unseemly falls in human eye,690
Too grievous for the trespass or omission;
Oft leav'st them to the hostile sword
Of heathen and profane, their carcasses
To dogs and fowls a prey, or else captived,
Or to the unjust tribunals, under change of times,695
And condemnation of the ingrateful multitude.
If these they scape, perhaps in poverty
With sickness and disease thou bow'st them down,
Painful diseases and deformed,
In crude old age;700
Though not disordinate, yet causeless suffering
The punishment of dissolute days. In fine,
Just or unjust alike seem miserable,
For oft alike both come to evil end.
So deal not with this once thy glorious champion,705
The image of thy strength, and mighty minister.
What do I beg? how hast thou dealt already!
Behold him in this state calamitous, and turn
His labours, for thou canst, to peaceful end.
But who is this? what thing of sea or land?710
—Female of sex it seems—
That so bedecked, ornate, and gay,
Comes this way sailing,
Like a stately ship
Of Tarsus, bound for the isles715
Of Javan or Gadire,
With all her bravery on, and tackle trim,
Sails filled, and streamers waving,
Courted by all the winds that hold them play,
An amber scent of odorous perfume720
Her harbinger, a damsel train behind;
Some rich Philistian matron she may seem,
And now, at nearer view, no other certain
Than Dalila thy wife.
Samson.My wife? my traitress; let her not come near me.725
Samson.My wife? my traitress; let her not come near me.725
Chorus.Yet on she moves; now stands and eyes thee fixed,About to have spoke; but now, with head declined,Like a fair flower surcharged with dew, she weeps,And words addressed seem into tears dissolved,Wetting the borders of her silken veil.730But now again she makes address to speak.
Chorus.Yet on she moves; now stands and eyes thee fixed,
About to have spoke; but now, with head declined,
Like a fair flower surcharged with dew, she weeps,
And words addressed seem into tears dissolved,
Wetting the borders of her silken veil.730
But now again she makes address to speak.
Dalila.With doubtful feet and wavering resolutionI came, still dreading thy displeasure, Samson,Which to have merited, without excuse,I cannot but acknowledge; yet if tears735May expiate (though the fact more evil drewIn the perverse event than I foresaw),My penance hath not slackened, though my pardonNo way assured. But conjugal affection,Prevailing over fear and timorous doubt,740Hath led me on, desirous to beholdOnce more thy face, and know of thy estate,If aught in my ability may serveTo lighten what thou sufferest, and appeaseThy mind with what amends is in my power,745Though late, yet in some part to recompenseMy rash but more unfortunate misdeed.
Dalila.With doubtful feet and wavering resolution
I came, still dreading thy displeasure, Samson,
Which to have merited, without excuse,
I cannot but acknowledge; yet if tears735
May expiate (though the fact more evil drew
In the perverse event than I foresaw),
My penance hath not slackened, though my pardon
No way assured. But conjugal affection,
Prevailing over fear and timorous doubt,740
Hath led me on, desirous to behold
Once more thy face, and know of thy estate,
If aught in my ability may serve
To lighten what thou sufferest, and appease
Thy mind with what amends is in my power,745
Though late, yet in some part to recompense
My rash but more unfortunate misdeed.
Samson.Out, out, hyæna! these are thy wonted arts,And arts of every woman false like thee—To break all faith, all vows, deceive, betray;750Then, as repentant, to submit, beseech,And reconcilement move with feigned remorse,Confess, and promise wonders in her change—Not truly penitent, but chief to tryHer husband, how far urged his patience bears,755His virtue or weakness which way to assail:Then, with more cautious and instructed skill,Again transgresses, and again submits;That wisest and best men, full oft beguiled,With goodness principled not to reject760The penitent, but ever to forgive,Are drawn to wear out miserable days,Entangled with a poisonous bosom-snake,If not by quick destruction soon cut off,As I by thee, to ages an example.765
Samson.Out, out, hyæna! these are thy wonted arts,
And arts of every woman false like thee—
To break all faith, all vows, deceive, betray;750
Then, as repentant, to submit, beseech,
And reconcilement move with feigned remorse,
Confess, and promise wonders in her change—
Not truly penitent, but chief to try
Her husband, how far urged his patience bears,755
His virtue or weakness which way to assail:
Then, with more cautious and instructed skill,
Again transgresses, and again submits;
That wisest and best men, full oft beguiled,
With goodness principled not to reject760
The penitent, but ever to forgive,
Are drawn to wear out miserable days,
Entangled with a poisonous bosom-snake,
If not by quick destruction soon cut off,
As I by thee, to ages an example.765
Dalila.Yet hear me, Samson; not that I endeavourTo lessen or extenuate my offence,But that, on the other side, if it be weighedBy itself, with aggravations not surcharged,Or else with just allowance counterpoised,770I may, if possible, thy pardon findThe easier towards me, or thy hatred less.First granting, as I do, it was a weaknessIn me, but incident to all our sex,Curiosity, inquisitive, importune775Of secrets, then with like infirmityTo publish them—both common female faults—Was it not weakness also to make known,For importunity, that is for nought,Wherein consisted all thy strength and safety?780To what I did thou showd'st me first the way.But I to enemies revealed, and should not;Nor should'st thou have trusted that to woman's frailty:Ere I to thee, thou to thyself wast cruel.Let weakness, then, with weakness come to parle,785So near related, or the same of kind;Thine forgive mine, that men may censure thineThe gentler, if severely thou exact notMore strength from me than in thyself was found.And what if love, which thou interpret'st hate,790The jealousy of love, powerful of swayIn human hearts, nor less in mine towards thee,Caused what I did? I saw thee mutableOf fancy, feared lest one day thou would'st leave meAs her at Timna; sought by all means, therefore,795How to endear, and hold thee to me firmest:No better way I saw than by importuningTo learn thy secrets, get into my powerThy key of strength and safety. Thou wilt say,'Why, then, revealed?' I was assured by those800Who tempted me, that nothing was designedAgainst thee but safe custody and hold.That made for me; I knew that libertyWould draw thee forth to perilous enterprises,While I at home sat full of cares and fears,805Wailing thy absence in my widowed bed;Here I should still enjoy thee, day and night,Mine and love's prisoner, not the Philistines',Whole to myself, unhazarded abroad,Fearless at home of partners in my love.810These reasons in love's law have passed for good,Though fond and reasonless to some perhaps;And love hath oft, well meaning, wrought much woe,Yet always pity or pardon hath obtained.Be not unlike all others, not austere815As thou art strong, inflexible as steel.If thou in strength all mortals dost exceed,In uncompassionate anger do not so.
Dalila.Yet hear me, Samson; not that I endeavour
To lessen or extenuate my offence,
But that, on the other side, if it be weighed
By itself, with aggravations not surcharged,
Or else with just allowance counterpoised,770
I may, if possible, thy pardon find
The easier towards me, or thy hatred less.
First granting, as I do, it was a weakness
In me, but incident to all our sex,
Curiosity, inquisitive, importune775
Of secrets, then with like infirmity
To publish them—both common female faults—
Was it not weakness also to make known,
For importunity, that is for nought,
Wherein consisted all thy strength and safety?780
To what I did thou showd'st me first the way.
But I to enemies revealed, and should not;
Nor should'st thou have trusted that to woman's frailty:
Ere I to thee, thou to thyself wast cruel.
Let weakness, then, with weakness come to parle,785
So near related, or the same of kind;
Thine forgive mine, that men may censure thine
The gentler, if severely thou exact not
More strength from me than in thyself was found.
And what if love, which thou interpret'st hate,790
The jealousy of love, powerful of sway
In human hearts, nor less in mine towards thee,
Caused what I did? I saw thee mutable
Of fancy, feared lest one day thou would'st leave me
As her at Timna; sought by all means, therefore,795
How to endear, and hold thee to me firmest:
No better way I saw than by importuning
To learn thy secrets, get into my power
Thy key of strength and safety. Thou wilt say,
'Why, then, revealed?' I was assured by those800
Who tempted me, that nothing was designed
Against thee but safe custody and hold.
That made for me; I knew that liberty
Would draw thee forth to perilous enterprises,
While I at home sat full of cares and fears,805
Wailing thy absence in my widowed bed;
Here I should still enjoy thee, day and night,
Mine and love's prisoner, not the Philistines',
Whole to myself, unhazarded abroad,
Fearless at home of partners in my love.810
These reasons in love's law have passed for good,
Though fond and reasonless to some perhaps;
And love hath oft, well meaning, wrought much woe,
Yet always pity or pardon hath obtained.
Be not unlike all others, not austere815
As thou art strong, inflexible as steel.
If thou in strength all mortals dost exceed,
In uncompassionate anger do not so.
Samson.How cunningly the sorceress displaysHer own transgressions, to upbraid me mine!820That malice, not repentance, brought thee hither,By this appears. I gave, thou say'st, the example,I led the way; bitter reproach, but true;I to myself was false ere thou to me.Such pardon, therefore, as I give my folly,825Take to thy wicked deed; which when thou seestImpartial, self-severe, inexorable,Thou wilt renounce thy seeking, and much ratherConfess it feigned. Weakness is thy excuse,And I believe it—weakness to resist830Philistian gold. If weakness may excuse,What murtherer, what traitor, parricide,Incestuous, sacrilegious, but may plead it?All wickedness is weakness; that plea, therefore,With God or man will gain thee no remission.835But love constrained thee! call it furious rageTo satisfy thy lust. Love seeks to have love;My love how could'st thou hope, who took'st the wayTo raise in me inexpiable hate,Knowing, as needs I must, by thee betrayed?840In vain thou striv'st to cover shame with shame,Or by evasions thy crime uncover'st more.
Samson.How cunningly the sorceress displays
Her own transgressions, to upbraid me mine!820
That malice, not repentance, brought thee hither,
By this appears. I gave, thou say'st, the example,
I led the way; bitter reproach, but true;
I to myself was false ere thou to me.
Such pardon, therefore, as I give my folly,825
Take to thy wicked deed; which when thou seest
Impartial, self-severe, inexorable,
Thou wilt renounce thy seeking, and much rather
Confess it feigned. Weakness is thy excuse,
And I believe it—weakness to resist830
Philistian gold. If weakness may excuse,
What murtherer, what traitor, parricide,
Incestuous, sacrilegious, but may plead it?
All wickedness is weakness; that plea, therefore,
With God or man will gain thee no remission.835
But love constrained thee! call it furious rage
To satisfy thy lust. Love seeks to have love;
My love how could'st thou hope, who took'st the way
To raise in me inexpiable hate,
Knowing, as needs I must, by thee betrayed?840
In vain thou striv'st to cover shame with shame,
Or by evasions thy crime uncover'st more.
Dalila.Since thou determin'st weakness for no pleaIn man or woman, though to thy own condemning,Hear what assaults I had, what snares besides,845What sieges girt me round, ere I consented;Which might have awed the best-resolved of men,The constantest, to have yielded without blame.It was not gold, as to my charge thou lay'st,That wrought with me. Thou know'st the magistrates850And princes of my country came in person,Solicited, commanded, threatened, urged,Adjured by all the bonds of civil dutyAnd of religion; pressed how just it was,How honourable, how glorious, to entrap855A common enemy, who had destroyedSuch numbers of our nation: and the priestWas not behind, but ever at my ear,Preaching how meritorious with the godsIt would be to ensnare an irreligious860Dishonourer of Dagon. What had ITo oppose against such powerful arguments?Only my love of thee held long debate,And combated in silence all these reasonsWith hard contest. At length, that grounded maxim,865So rife and celebrated in the mouthsOf wisest men, that to the public goodPrivate respects must yield, with grave authorityTook full possession of me, and prevailed;Virtue, as I thought, truth, duty, so enjoining.870
Dalila.Since thou determin'st weakness for no plea
In man or woman, though to thy own condemning,
Hear what assaults I had, what snares besides,845
What sieges girt me round, ere I consented;
Which might have awed the best-resolved of men,
The constantest, to have yielded without blame.
It was not gold, as to my charge thou lay'st,
That wrought with me. Thou know'st the magistrates850
And princes of my country came in person,
Solicited, commanded, threatened, urged,
Adjured by all the bonds of civil duty
And of religion; pressed how just it was,
How honourable, how glorious, to entrap855
A common enemy, who had destroyed
Such numbers of our nation: and the priest
Was not behind, but ever at my ear,
Preaching how meritorious with the gods
It would be to ensnare an irreligious860
Dishonourer of Dagon. What had I
To oppose against such powerful arguments?
Only my love of thee held long debate,
And combated in silence all these reasons
With hard contest. At length, that grounded maxim,865
So rife and celebrated in the mouths
Of wisest men, that to the public good
Private respects must yield, with grave authority
Took full possession of me, and prevailed;
Virtue, as I thought, truth, duty, so enjoining.870
Samson.I thought where all thy circling wiles would end—In feigned religion, smooth hypocrisy!But, had thy love, still odiously pretended,Been, as it ought, sincere, it would have taught theeFar other reasonings, brought forth other deeds.875I, before all the daughters of my tribeAnd of my nation, chose thee from amongMy enemies, loved thee, as too well thou knew'st,Too well; unbosomed all my secrets to thee,Not out of levity, but overpowered880By thy request, who could deny thee nothing;Yet now am judged an enemy. Why, then,Didst thou at first receive me for thy husband,Then, as since then, thy country's foe professed?Being once a wife, for me thou wast to leave885Parents and country; nor was I their subject,Nor under their protection, but my own;Thou mine, not theirs. If aught against my lifeThy country sought of thee, it sought unjustly,Against the law of nature, law of nations;890No more thy country, but an impious crewOf men conspiring to uphold their stateBy worse than hostile deeds, violating the endsFor which our country is a name so dear;Not therefore to be obeyed. But zeal moved thee;895To please thy gods thou didst it! gods unableTo acquit themselves and prosecute their foesBut by ungodly deeds, the contradictionOf their own deity, gods cannot be;Less therefore to be pleased, obeyed, or feared.900These false pretexts and varnished colours failing,Bare in thy guilt, how foul must thou appear!
Samson.I thought where all thy circling wiles would end—
In feigned religion, smooth hypocrisy!
But, had thy love, still odiously pretended,
Been, as it ought, sincere, it would have taught thee
Far other reasonings, brought forth other deeds.875
I, before all the daughters of my tribe
And of my nation, chose thee from among
My enemies, loved thee, as too well thou knew'st,
Too well; unbosomed all my secrets to thee,
Not out of levity, but overpowered880
By thy request, who could deny thee nothing;
Yet now am judged an enemy. Why, then,
Didst thou at first receive me for thy husband,
Then, as since then, thy country's foe professed?
Being once a wife, for me thou wast to leave885
Parents and country; nor was I their subject,
Nor under their protection, but my own;
Thou mine, not theirs. If aught against my life
Thy country sought of thee, it sought unjustly,
Against the law of nature, law of nations;890
No more thy country, but an impious crew
Of men conspiring to uphold their state
By worse than hostile deeds, violating the ends
For which our country is a name so dear;
Not therefore to be obeyed. But zeal moved thee;895
To please thy gods thou didst it! gods unable
To acquit themselves and prosecute their foes
But by ungodly deeds, the contradiction
Of their own deity, gods cannot be;
Less therefore to be pleased, obeyed, or feared.900
These false pretexts and varnished colours failing,
Bare in thy guilt, how foul must thou appear!
Dalila.In argument with men a woman everGoes by the worse, whatever be her cause.
Dalila.In argument with men a woman ever
Goes by the worse, whatever be her cause.
Samson.For want of words, no doubt, or lack of breath!905Witness when I was worried with thy peals.
Samson.For want of words, no doubt, or lack of breath!905
Witness when I was worried with thy peals.
Dalila.I was a fool, too rash, and quite mistakenIn what I thought would have succeeded best.Let me obtain forgiveness of thee, Samson;Afford me place to show what recompense910Towards thee I intend for what I have misdone,Misguided. Only what remains past cureBear not too sensibly, nor still insistTo afflict thyself in vain. Though sight be lost,Life yet hath many solaces, enjoyed915Where other senses want not their delights—At home, in leisure and domestic ease,Exempt from many a care and chance to whichEye-sight exposes, daily, men abroad.I to the lords will intercede, not doubting920Their favourable ear, that I may fetch theeFrom forth this loathsome prison-house, to abideWith me, where my redoubled love and care,With nursing diligence, to me glad office,May ever tend about thee to old age,925With all things grateful cheered, and so suppliedThat what by me thou hast lost thou least shalt miss.
Dalila.I was a fool, too rash, and quite mistaken
In what I thought would have succeeded best.
Let me obtain forgiveness of thee, Samson;
Afford me place to show what recompense910
Towards thee I intend for what I have misdone,
Misguided. Only what remains past cure
Bear not too sensibly, nor still insist
To afflict thyself in vain. Though sight be lost,
Life yet hath many solaces, enjoyed915
Where other senses want not their delights—
At home, in leisure and domestic ease,
Exempt from many a care and chance to which
Eye-sight exposes, daily, men abroad.
I to the lords will intercede, not doubting920
Their favourable ear, that I may fetch thee
From forth this loathsome prison-house, to abide
With me, where my redoubled love and care,
With nursing diligence, to me glad office,
May ever tend about thee to old age,925
With all things grateful cheered, and so supplied
That what by me thou hast lost thou least shalt miss.
Samson.No, no; of my condition take no care;It fits not; thou and I long since are twain;Nor think me so unwary or accursed,930To bring my feet again into the snareWhere once I have been caught. I know thy trains,Though dearly to my cost, thy gins, and toils.Thy fair enchanted cup, and warbling charms,No more on me have power; their force is nulled;935So much of adder's wisdom I have learned,To fence my ear against thy sorceries.If in my flower of youth and strength, when all menLoved, honoured, feared me, thou alone could'st hate me,Thy husband, slight me, sell me, and forgo me,940How would'st thou use me now, blind, and therebyDeceivable, in most things as a childHelpless, thence easily contemned and scorned,And last neglected! How would'st thou insult,When I must live uxorious to thy will945In perfect thraldom! how again betray me,Bearing my words and doings to the lordsTo gloss upon, and, censuring, frown or smile!This jail I count the house of libertyTo thine, whose doors my feet shall never enter.950
Samson.No, no; of my condition take no care;
It fits not; thou and I long since are twain;
Nor think me so unwary or accursed,930
To bring my feet again into the snare
Where once I have been caught. I know thy trains,
Though dearly to my cost, thy gins, and toils.
Thy fair enchanted cup, and warbling charms,
No more on me have power; their force is nulled;935
So much of adder's wisdom I have learned,
To fence my ear against thy sorceries.
If in my flower of youth and strength, when all men
Loved, honoured, feared me, thou alone could'st hate me,
Thy husband, slight me, sell me, and forgo me,940
How would'st thou use me now, blind, and thereby
Deceivable, in most things as a child
Helpless, thence easily contemned and scorned,
And last neglected! How would'st thou insult,
When I must live uxorious to thy will945
In perfect thraldom! how again betray me,
Bearing my words and doings to the lords
To gloss upon, and, censuring, frown or smile!
This jail I count the house of liberty
To thine, whose doors my feet shall never enter.950
Dalila.Let me approach at least, and touch thy hand.
Dalila.Let me approach at least, and touch thy hand.
Samson.Not for thy life, lest fierce remembrance wakeMy sudden rage to tear thee joint by joint.At distance I forgive thee; go with that;Bewail thy falsehood, and the pious works955It hath brought forth to make thee memorableAmong illustrious women, faithful wives;Cherish thy hastened widowhood with the goldOf matrimonial treason: so farewell.
Samson.Not for thy life, lest fierce remembrance wake
My sudden rage to tear thee joint by joint.
At distance I forgive thee; go with that;
Bewail thy falsehood, and the pious works955
It hath brought forth to make thee memorable
Among illustrious women, faithful wives;
Cherish thy hastened widowhood with the gold
Of matrimonial treason: so farewell.
Dalila.I see thou art implacable, more deaf960To prayers than winds and seas; yet winds to seasAre reconciled at length, and sea to shore:Thy anger, unappeasable, still rages,Eternal tempest never to be calmed.Why do I humble thus myself, and, suing965For peace, reap nothing but repulse and hate?Bid go with evil omen, and the brandOf infamy upon my name denounced.To mix with thy concernments I desistHenceforth, nor too much disapprove my own.970Fame, if not double-faced, is double-mouthed,And with contráry blast proclaims most deeds;On both his wings, one black, the other white,Bears greatest names in his wild aery flight.My name, perhaps, among the Circumcised975In Dan, in Judah, and the bordering tribes,To all posterity may stand defamed,With malediction mentioned, and the blotOf falsehood most unconjugal traduced.But in my country, where I most desire,980In Ecron, Gaza, Asdod, and in Gath,I shall be named among the famousestOf women, sung at solemn festivals,Living and dead recorded, who, to saveHer country from a fierce destroyer, chose985Above the faith of wedlock-bands; my tombWith odours visited and annual flowers;Not less renowned than in mount EphraimJael, who, with inhospitable guile,Smote Sisera sleeping, through the temples nailed.990Nor shall I count it heinous to enjoyThe public marks of honour and rewardConferred upon me for the pietyWhich to my country I was judged to have shown.At this whoever envies or repines,995I leave him to his lot, and like my own.
Dalila.I see thou art implacable, more deaf960
To prayers than winds and seas; yet winds to seas
Are reconciled at length, and sea to shore:
Thy anger, unappeasable, still rages,
Eternal tempest never to be calmed.
Why do I humble thus myself, and, suing965
For peace, reap nothing but repulse and hate?
Bid go with evil omen, and the brand
Of infamy upon my name denounced.
To mix with thy concernments I desist
Henceforth, nor too much disapprove my own.970
Fame, if not double-faced, is double-mouthed,
And with contráry blast proclaims most deeds;
On both his wings, one black, the other white,
Bears greatest names in his wild aery flight.
My name, perhaps, among the Circumcised975
In Dan, in Judah, and the bordering tribes,
To all posterity may stand defamed,
With malediction mentioned, and the blot
Of falsehood most unconjugal traduced.
But in my country, where I most desire,980
In Ecron, Gaza, Asdod, and in Gath,
I shall be named among the famousest
Of women, sung at solemn festivals,
Living and dead recorded, who, to save
Her country from a fierce destroyer, chose985
Above the faith of wedlock-bands; my tomb
With odours visited and annual flowers;
Not less renowned than in mount Ephraim
Jael, who, with inhospitable guile,
Smote Sisera sleeping, through the temples nailed.990
Nor shall I count it heinous to enjoy
The public marks of honour and reward
Conferred upon me for the piety
Which to my country I was judged to have shown.
At this whoever envies or repines,995
I leave him to his lot, and like my own.
Chorus.She's gone—a manifest serpent by her stingDiscovered in the end, till now concealed.
Chorus.She's gone—a manifest serpent by her sting
Discovered in the end, till now concealed.
Samson.So let her go. God sent her to debase me,And aggravate my folly, who committed1000To such a viper his most sacred trustOf secrecy, my safety, and my life.
Samson.So let her go. God sent her to debase me,
And aggravate my folly, who committed1000
To such a viper his most sacred trust
Of secrecy, my safety, and my life.
Chorus.Yet beauty, though injurious, hath strange power,After offence returning, to regainLove once possessed, nor can be easily1005Repulsed, without much inward passion felt,And secret sting of amorous remorse.
Chorus.Yet beauty, though injurious, hath strange power,
After offence returning, to regain
Love once possessed, nor can be easily1005
Repulsed, without much inward passion felt,
And secret sting of amorous remorse.
Samson.Love-quarrels oft in pleasing concord end,Not wedlock-treachery endangering life.
Samson.Love-quarrels oft in pleasing concord end,
Not wedlock-treachery endangering life.
Chorus.It is not virtue, wisdom, valour, wit,1010Strength, comeliness of shape, or amplest merit,That woman's love can win or long inherit;But what it is, hard is to say,Harder to hit,Which way soever men refer it1015(Much like thy riddle, Samson), in one dayOr seven, though one should musing sit.If any of these, or all, the Timnian brideHad not so soon preferredThy paranymph, worthless to thee compared,1020Successor in thy bed,Nor both so loosely disalliedTheir nuptials, nor this last so treacherouslyHad shorn the fatal harvest of thy head.Is it for that such outward ornament1025Was lavished on their sex, that inward giftsWere left for haste unfinished, judgment scant,Capacity not raised to apprehendOr value what is bestIn choice, but oftest to affect the wrong?1030Or was too much of self-love mixed,Of constancy no root infixed,That either they love nothing, or not long?Whate'er it be, to wisest men and best,Seeming at first all heavenly under virgin veil,1035Soft, modest, meek, demure,Once joined, the contrary she proves—a thornIntestine, far within defensive armsA cleaving mischief, in his way to virtueAdverse and turbulent; or by her charms1040Draws him awry, enslavedWith dotage, and his sense depravedTo folly and shameful deeds which ruin ends.What pilot so expert but needs must wreck,Embarked with such a steers-mate at the helm?1045Favoured of heaven who findsOne virtuous, rarely found,That in domestic good combines!Happy that house! his way to peace is smooth:But virtue which breaks through all opposition,1050And all temptation can remove,Most shines and most is acceptable above.Therefore God's universal lawGave to the man despotic powerOver his female in due awe,1055Nor from that right to part an hour,Smile she or lour:So shall he least confusion drawOn his whole life, not swayedBy female usurpation, nor dismayed.1060But had we best retire? I see a storm.
Chorus.It is not virtue, wisdom, valour, wit,1010
Strength, comeliness of shape, or amplest merit,
That woman's love can win or long inherit;
But what it is, hard is to say,
Harder to hit,
Which way soever men refer it1015
(Much like thy riddle, Samson), in one day
Or seven, though one should musing sit.
If any of these, or all, the Timnian bride
Had not so soon preferred
Thy paranymph, worthless to thee compared,1020
Successor in thy bed,
Nor both so loosely disallied
Their nuptials, nor this last so treacherously
Had shorn the fatal harvest of thy head.
Is it for that such outward ornament1025
Was lavished on their sex, that inward gifts
Were left for haste unfinished, judgment scant,
Capacity not raised to apprehend
Or value what is best
In choice, but oftest to affect the wrong?1030
Or was too much of self-love mixed,
Of constancy no root infixed,
That either they love nothing, or not long?
Whate'er it be, to wisest men and best,
Seeming at first all heavenly under virgin veil,1035
Soft, modest, meek, demure,
Once joined, the contrary she proves—a thorn
Intestine, far within defensive arms
A cleaving mischief, in his way to virtue
Adverse and turbulent; or by her charms1040
Draws him awry, enslaved
With dotage, and his sense depraved
To folly and shameful deeds which ruin ends.
What pilot so expert but needs must wreck,
Embarked with such a steers-mate at the helm?1045
Favoured of heaven who finds
One virtuous, rarely found,
That in domestic good combines!
Happy that house! his way to peace is smooth:
But virtue which breaks through all opposition,1050
And all temptation can remove,
Most shines and most is acceptable above.
Therefore God's universal law
Gave to the man despotic power
Over his female in due awe,1055
Nor from that right to part an hour,
Smile she or lour:
So shall he least confusion draw
On his whole life, not swayed
By female usurpation, nor dismayed.1060
But had we best retire? I see a storm.
Samson.Fair days have oft contracted wind and rain.
Samson.Fair days have oft contracted wind and rain.
Chorus.But this another kind of tempest brings.
Chorus.But this another kind of tempest brings.
Samson.Be less abstruse; my riddling days are past.
Samson.Be less abstruse; my riddling days are past.
Chorus.Look now for no enchanting voice, nor fear1065The bait of honied words; a rougher tongueDraws hitherward; I know him by his stride,The giant Harapha of Gath, his lookHaughty, as is his pile high-built and proud.Comes he in peace? what wind hath blown him hither1070I less conjecture than when first I sawThe sumptuous Dalila floating this way:His habit carries peace, his brow defiance.
Chorus.Look now for no enchanting voice, nor fear1065
The bait of honied words; a rougher tongue
Draws hitherward; I know him by his stride,
The giant Harapha of Gath, his look
Haughty, as is his pile high-built and proud.
Comes he in peace? what wind hath blown him hither1070
I less conjecture than when first I saw
The sumptuous Dalila floating this way:
His habit carries peace, his brow defiance.
Samson.Or peace or not, alike to me he comes.
Samson.Or peace or not, alike to me he comes.
Chorus.His fraught we soon shall know: he now arrives.1075
Chorus.His fraught we soon shall know: he now arrives.1075
Harapha.I come not, Samson, to condole thy chance,As these perhaps, yet wish it had not been,Though for no friendly intent. I am of Gath;Men call me Harapha, of stock renownedAs Og, or Anak, and the Emims old1080That Kiriathaim held. Thou know'st me now,If thou at all art known. Much I have heardOf thy prodigious might and feats performed,Incredible to me,—in this displeased,That I was never present on the place1085Of those encounters, where we might have triedEach other's force in camp or listed field;And now am come to see of whom such noiseHath walked about, and each limb to survey,If thy appearance answer loud report.1090
Harapha.I come not, Samson, to condole thy chance,
As these perhaps, yet wish it had not been,
Though for no friendly intent. I am of Gath;
Men call me Harapha, of stock renowned
As Og, or Anak, and the Emims old1080
That Kiriathaim held. Thou know'st me now,
If thou at all art known. Much I have heard
Of thy prodigious might and feats performed,
Incredible to me,—in this displeased,
That I was never present on the place1085
Of those encounters, where we might have tried
Each other's force in camp or listed field;
And now am come to see of whom such noise
Hath walked about, and each limb to survey,
If thy appearance answer loud report.1090
Samson.The way to know were not to see, but taste.
Samson.The way to know were not to see, but taste.
Harapha.Dost thou already single me? I thoughtGyves and the mill had tamed thee. Oh, that fortuneHad brought me to the field, where thou art famedTo have wrought such wonders with an ass's jaw!1095I should have forced thee soon with other arms,Or left thy carcass where the ass lay thrown;So had the glory of prowess been recoveredTo Palestine, won by a PhilistineFrom the unforeskinned race, of whom thou bear'st1100The highest name for valiant acts; that honour,Certain to have won by mortal duel from thee,I lose, prevented by thy eyes put out.
Harapha.Dost thou already single me? I thought
Gyves and the mill had tamed thee. Oh, that fortune
Had brought me to the field, where thou art famed
To have wrought such wonders with an ass's jaw!1095
I should have forced thee soon with other arms,
Or left thy carcass where the ass lay thrown;
So had the glory of prowess been recovered
To Palestine, won by a Philistine
From the unforeskinned race, of whom thou bear'st1100
The highest name for valiant acts; that honour,
Certain to have won by mortal duel from thee,
I lose, prevented by thy eyes put out.
Samson.Boast not of what thou would'st have done, but doWhat then thou would'st; thou seest it in thy hand.1105
Samson.Boast not of what thou would'st have done, but do
What then thou would'st; thou seest it in thy hand.1105
Harapha.To combat with a blind man I disdain,And thou hast need much washing to be touched.
Harapha.To combat with a blind man I disdain,
And thou hast need much washing to be touched.
Samson.Such usage as your honourable lordsAfford me, assassinated and betrayed;Who durst not with their whole united powers1110In fight withstand me single and unarmed,Nor in the house with chamber-ambushesClose-banded durst attack me, no, not sleeping,Till they had hired a woman with their gold,Breaking her marriage-faith, to circumvent me.1115Therefore, without feigned shifts, let be assignedSome narrow place enclosed, where sight may give thee,Or rather flight, no great advantage on me;Then put on all thy gorgeous arms, thy helmetAnd brigandine of brass, thy broad habergeon,1120Vant-brace and greaves and gauntlet; add thy spear,A weaver's beam, and seven-times-folded shield:I only with an oaken staff will meet thee,And raise such outcries on thy clattered iron,Which long shall not withhold me from thy head,1125That in a little time while breath remains thee,Thou oft shalt wish thyself at Gath, to boastAgain in safety what thou would'st have doneTo Samson, but shalt never see Gath more.
Samson.Such usage as your honourable lords
Afford me, assassinated and betrayed;
Who durst not with their whole united powers1110
In fight withstand me single and unarmed,
Nor in the house with chamber-ambushes
Close-banded durst attack me, no, not sleeping,
Till they had hired a woman with their gold,
Breaking her marriage-faith, to circumvent me.1115
Therefore, without feigned shifts, let be assigned
Some narrow place enclosed, where sight may give thee,
Or rather flight, no great advantage on me;
Then put on all thy gorgeous arms, thy helmet
And brigandine of brass, thy broad habergeon,1120
Vant-brace and greaves and gauntlet; add thy spear,
A weaver's beam, and seven-times-folded shield:
I only with an oaken staff will meet thee,
And raise such outcries on thy clattered iron,
Which long shall not withhold me from thy head,1125
That in a little time while breath remains thee,
Thou oft shalt wish thyself at Gath, to boast
Again in safety what thou would'st have done
To Samson, but shalt never see Gath more.
Harapha.Thou durst not thus disparage glorious arms,1130Which greatest heroes have in battle worn,Their ornament and safety, had not spellsAnd black enchantments, some magician's art,Armed thee or charmed thee strong, which thou from HeavenFeign'dst at thy birth was given thee in thy hair,1135Where strength can least abide, though all thy hairsWere bristles ranged like those that ridge the backOf chafed wild boars or ruffled porcupines.
Harapha.Thou durst not thus disparage glorious arms,1130
Which greatest heroes have in battle worn,
Their ornament and safety, had not spells
And black enchantments, some magician's art,
Armed thee or charmed thee strong, which thou from Heaven
Feign'dst at thy birth was given thee in thy hair,1135
Where strength can least abide, though all thy hairs
Were bristles ranged like those that ridge the back
Of chafed wild boars or ruffled porcupines.
Samson.I know no spells, use no forbidden arts;My trust is in the Living God, who gave me,1140At my nativity, this strength, diffusedNo less through all my sinews, joints, and bones,Than thine, while I preserved these locks unshorn,The pledge of my unviolated vow.For proof hereof, if Dagon be thy god,1145Go to his temple, invocate his aidWith solemnest devotion, spread before himHow highly it concerns his glory nowTo frustrate and dissolve these magic spells,Which I to be the power of Israel's God1150Avow, and challenge Dagon to the test,Offering to combat thee, his champion bold,With the utmost of his godhead seconded:Then thou shalt see, or rather to thy sorrowSoon feel, whose God is strongest, thine or mine.1155
Samson.I know no spells, use no forbidden arts;
My trust is in the Living God, who gave me,1140
At my nativity, this strength, diffused
No less through all my sinews, joints, and bones,
Than thine, while I preserved these locks unshorn,
The pledge of my unviolated vow.
For proof hereof, if Dagon be thy god,1145
Go to his temple, invocate his aid
With solemnest devotion, spread before him
How highly it concerns his glory now
To frustrate and dissolve these magic spells,
Which I to be the power of Israel's God1150
Avow, and challenge Dagon to the test,
Offering to combat thee, his champion bold,
With the utmost of his godhead seconded:
Then thou shalt see, or rather to thy sorrow
Soon feel, whose God is strongest, thine or mine.1155
Harapha.Presume not on thy God. Whate'er he be,Thee he regards not, owns not, hath cut offQuite from his people, and delivered upInto thy enemies' hand; permitted themTo put out both thine eyes, and fettered send thee1160Into the common prison, there to grindAmong the slaves and asses, thy comrades,As good for nothing else, no better serviceWith those thy boisterous locks; no worthy matchFor valour to assail, nor by the sword1165Of noble warrior, so to stain his honour,But by the barber's razor best subdued.
Harapha.Presume not on thy God. Whate'er he be,
Thee he regards not, owns not, hath cut off
Quite from his people, and delivered up
Into thy enemies' hand; permitted them
To put out both thine eyes, and fettered send thee1160
Into the common prison, there to grind
Among the slaves and asses, thy comrades,
As good for nothing else, no better service
With those thy boisterous locks; no worthy match
For valour to assail, nor by the sword1165
Of noble warrior, so to stain his honour,
But by the barber's razor best subdued.
Samson.All these indignities, for such they areFrom thine, these evils I deserve and more,Acknowledge them from God inflicted on me1170Justly, yet despair not of his final pardon,Whose ear is ever open, and his eyeGracious to re-admit the suppliant;In confidence whereof I once againDefy thee to the trial of mortal fight,1175By combat to decide whose god is God,Thine, or whom I with Israel's sons adore.
Samson.All these indignities, for such they are
From thine, these evils I deserve and more,
Acknowledge them from God inflicted on me1170
Justly, yet despair not of his final pardon,
Whose ear is ever open, and his eye
Gracious to re-admit the suppliant;
In confidence whereof I once again
Defy thee to the trial of mortal fight,1175
By combat to decide whose god is God,
Thine, or whom I with Israel's sons adore.
Harapha.Fair honour that thou doest thy God, in trustingHe will accept thee to defend his cause,A murtherer, a revolter, and a robber!1180
Harapha.Fair honour that thou doest thy God, in trusting
He will accept thee to defend his cause,
A murtherer, a revolter, and a robber!1180
Samson.Tongue-doughty giant, how dost thou prove me these?
Samson.Tongue-doughty giant, how dost thou prove me these?
Harapha.Is not thy nation subject to our lords?Their magistrates confessed it, when they took theeAs a league-breaker, and delivered boundInto our hands: for hadst thou not committed1185Notorious murder on those thirty menAt Ascalon, who never did thee harm,Then, like a robber, stripp'dst them of their robes?The Philistines, when thou hadst broke the league,Went up with armed powers thee only seeking,1190To others did no violence nor spoil.
Harapha.Is not thy nation subject to our lords?
Their magistrates confessed it, when they took thee
As a league-breaker, and delivered bound
Into our hands: for hadst thou not committed1185
Notorious murder on those thirty men
At Ascalon, who never did thee harm,
Then, like a robber, stripp'dst them of their robes?
The Philistines, when thou hadst broke the league,
Went up with armed powers thee only seeking,1190
To others did no violence nor spoil.
Samson.Among the daughters of the PhilistinesI chose a wife, which argued me no foe,And in your city held my nuptial feast;But your ill-meaning politician lords,1195Under pretence of bridal friends and guests,Appointed to await me thirty spies,Who, threatening cruel death, constrained the brideTo wring from me, and tell to them, my secret,That solved the riddle which I had proposed.1200When I perceived all set on enmity,As on my enemies, wherever chanced,I used hostility, and took their spoil,To pay my underminers in their coin.My nation was subjected to your lords!1205It was the force of conquest; force with forceIs well ejected when the conquered can.But I, a private person, whom my countryAs a league-breaker gave up bound, presumedSingle rebellion, and did hostile acts!1210I was no private, but a person raised,With strength sufficient, and command from Heaven,To free my country. If their servile mindsMe, their deliverer sent, would not receive,But to their masters gave me up for nought,1215The unworthier they; whence to this day they serve.I was to do my part from Heaven assigned,And had performed it, if my known offenceHad not disabled me, not all your force.These shifts refuted, answer thy appellant,1220Though by his blindness maimed for high attempts,Who now defies thee thrice to single fight,As a petty enterprise of small enforce.
Samson.Among the daughters of the Philistines
I chose a wife, which argued me no foe,
And in your city held my nuptial feast;
But your ill-meaning politician lords,1195
Under pretence of bridal friends and guests,
Appointed to await me thirty spies,
Who, threatening cruel death, constrained the bride
To wring from me, and tell to them, my secret,
That solved the riddle which I had proposed.1200
When I perceived all set on enmity,
As on my enemies, wherever chanced,
I used hostility, and took their spoil,
To pay my underminers in their coin.
My nation was subjected to your lords!1205
It was the force of conquest; force with force
Is well ejected when the conquered can.
But I, a private person, whom my country
As a league-breaker gave up bound, presumed
Single rebellion, and did hostile acts!1210
I was no private, but a person raised,
With strength sufficient, and command from Heaven,
To free my country. If their servile minds
Me, their deliverer sent, would not receive,
But to their masters gave me up for nought,1215
The unworthier they; whence to this day they serve.
I was to do my part from Heaven assigned,
And had performed it, if my known offence
Had not disabled me, not all your force.
These shifts refuted, answer thy appellant,1220
Though by his blindness maimed for high attempts,
Who now defies thee thrice to single fight,
As a petty enterprise of small enforce.