That faw not how degenerately I ferv'd.
MAN. I cannot praise thy marriage choices, Son, Rather approv'd them not; but thou didst plead Divine impulfion prompting how thou might'st Find fome occafion to infeft our foes.
I ftate not that; this I am fure, our foes
Found foon occafion thereby to make thee
Their captive, and their triumph; thou the fooner
Temptation found'ft, or over-potent charms
To violate the facred truft of filence
Depofited within thee; which to have kept
Tacit, was in thy power: true; and thou bear'ft
Enough, and more, the burden of that fault; 431
Bitterly haft thou paid, and fill art paying
That rigid fcore. A worfe thing yet remains,
This day the Philifines a popular feaft
Here celebrate in Gaza; and proclame
Great pomp, and facrifice, and praises loud
To Dagon, as their God who hath deliver'd
Thee, Samfon, bound and blind into their hands,
'Them out of thine, who flew'st them many a flain.
So Dagon fhall be magnify'd; and God,
Befides whom is no God, compar'd with idols,
Difglority'd, blafphem'd, and had in fearn
By the idolatrous rout amidst their wine;
Which to have come to pass by means of thee,
Samfon, of all thy fufferings think the heaviest,
Of all reproach the most with fhame that ever
Could have befall'n thee and thy father's houfe.
SAMS. Father, I do acknowledge and confefs
That I this honor, I this pcmp have brought
To Dagon, and advanc'd his praifes high
Among the Heathen round; to God have brought
Dihenor, obioquy, and op'd the mouths
Of idolifts, and atheilts; have brought fcandal
To Ifrael, diffidence of God, and doubt
Before the God of Abraham. He, be fure, 465
Will not connive, or linger, thus provok'd,
But will arife and his great name affert :
Dagon must stoop, and fhall ere long receive
Such a difcomfit, a fhall quite defpoil him
Of all thefe boafted trophies won on me,
And with confufion blank His worshipers.
MAN. With caufe this hope relieves thee, and
these words
I as a prophecy receive; for God,
Nothing more certain, will not long defer
To vindicate the glory of his name
Against all competition, ner will long
Indure it doubtful whether God be Lord,
Or Dagon. But for thee what shall be done?
Thou muft not in the mean while here forgot
Lie in this miferable loathfome plight
Ngiccted I already have made way
To fome Philiftiau lords, with whom to treat
About thy ranfome: well they may by this
Have fatisfied their utmost of revenge
By pains and flaveries, worfe than death inflicted
On thee, who now no more canft do them harm.
SAMS. Spare that propofal, Father, fpare the
trouble
Of that folicitation; let me here,
As I deferve, pay on my punishment;
And expiate, if poffible, my crime,
Shameful garrulity. To have reveal'd
Secrets of men, the fecrets of a friend,
How heinous had the fact been, how deferving
Contempt, and fcorn of all, to be excluded
All friendship, and avoided as a blab,
The mark of fool fet on his front!
But I God's counfel have not kept, his holy fecret
Prefumptuously have publifh'd, impioudy,
Weakly at least, and fhamefully: a fin
That Gentiles in their parables condema
To their abyfs and horrid pains contin'd.
MAN. Be penitent and for thy fault contrite,
But act not in thy own affliction, Son:
Repent the fin; but if the punishment
Thou canst avoid, felf-prefervation bids;
Or th' execution leave to high disposal,
And let another hand, not thine, exact
Thy penal forfeit from thyfelf; perhaps
God will relent, and quit thee all his debt;
Who ever more approves and more accepts
(Beft pleas'd with humble' and filial fubmiffion)
Him who imploring mercy fues for life,
Than who felf-rigorous choofes death as due;
Which argues over-juft, and felf-difpleas'd
For felf-offenfe, more than for God offended. 515
Reject not then what offer'd means; who knows
But God hath fet before us, to return thee
Home to thy country and his facred houfe,
Where thou mayft bring thy offerings, to avert
His further ire, with prayers and vows renew'd?
SAMS. His pardon I implore; but as for life,
To what end fhould I feek it? When in strength
All mortals 1 excell'd, and great in hopes
With youthful courage and magnanimous thoughts
Of birth from Heav'n foretold and high exploits,
Full of divine inftinct, after fome proof
Of acts indeed heroic, far beyond
The fons of Anak, famous now and biaz'd,
Fearlefs of danger, like a petty God
I walk'd about admir'd of all and dreaded
On hoftile ground, none daring my affront
Then fwoll'n with pride into the inare I fell
Offair fallacious looks, venereal trains,
Soften'd with pleafure and voluptuous life;
At length to lay my head and hallow'd pledge $35
Of all my ftrength in the lafcivious lap
Of a deceitful concubine, who fhore me
Like a tame wother, all my precious ficece,
Then turn'd me out ridiculous, defpoil'd,
Shav'n, and difarm'd among mine enemies.
Cuo. Defire of wine and all delicious drinks, Which many a famous warrior overturns, Thou couldst reprefs, nor did the dancing ruby Sparkling, out-pour'd, the flavor, or the smell, Or tafte that chears the heart of Gods and men, Allure thee from the cool cryftallin ftream. 546
SAMS. Whatever fountain or fre fh current flow'd
Against the eastern ray, translucent, pure
With touch ethereal of Heav'n's fiery rod,
I drank, from the clear milky juice allaying 550
Thift, and refresh'd; nor envy'd them the grape
Whole heads that turbulent liquor fills with fumes.
CHO. O maduels, to think ufe of ftrongeft wines
And ftrongeft drinks our chief, fupport of health,
When God with thefe forbidd'n made choice to rear
His mighty champion, ftrong above compare, 556
Whofe drink was only from the liquid brook!
SAMS. But what avail'd this temp'rance, not
complete
Against another object more enticing?
What beots it at one gate to make defense,
And at another to let in the foc,
560 To black mortification.
Effeminately vanquifh'd? by which means, Nowblind,difhearten'd, fham'd, difhonor'd, quell'd, To what can I be useful, wherein ferve
My nation, and the work from Heav'n impos'd, But to fit idle on the houfhold hearth,
Nor breath of vernal air from inowy Alp.
A burd'nous drone; to vifitants a gaze,
Or pity'd object, thefe redundant locks
Robuftious to no purpose cluttering down,
Vain monument of ftrength; till length of years
And fedentary numnefs craze my limbs
To a contemptible old-age obfcure?
Here rather let me drudge and earn my bread,
Till vermin or the draff of fervile food
Confume me, and oft-invoked death
Hafter the welcome end of all my pains.
MAN. Wilt thou then ferve the Philiftines with
Which was exprefly given thee to annoy them?
Better at home lie bed-rid, not only idle,
Inglorious, unemploy'd, with age out-worn. 580
But God, who caus'd a fountain at thy prayer
From the dry ground to fpring, thy thirft t' allay
After the brunt of battel, can as cafy
Caufe light again within thy eyes to fpring,
Wherewith to ferve him better than thou hast;
And I perfuade me fo; why elfe this ftrength 586
Miraculous yet remaining in thofe locks?
His might continues in thee not for nought,
Nor fhall his wondrous gifts be fruftrate thus.
SAMS. All otherwife to me my thoughts por-
tend,
That thefe dark orbs no more fhall treat with light,
Nor th' other light of life continue long,
But yield to double darkness nigh at hand:
So much I feel my genial fpirits droop,
My hopes all flat, nature within me seems
In all her functions weary of herfelf,
My race of glory run, and race of fhame,
And I fhall fhortly be with them that reft.
MAN. Believe not thefe fuggeftions, which
proceed
From anguifh of the mind and humers black, 600
That mingle with thy fancy. I however
Muft not omit a father's timely care
To profecute the means of thy deliverance
By ranfome, or how elfe: mean while be calm,
And healing words from thefe thy friends admit.
SAMS. O that torment fhould not be confin'd
To the body's wounds and fores,
And fenfe of Heav'n's defertion.
Promis'd by heav'nly meffage twice defcending. Under his fpecial eye
Abftemious I grew up and thriv'd amain;
He led me on to mightieft deeds Above the nerve of mortal arm
Against th' uncircumcis'd, our enemies :
But now hath caft me off as never known,
And to thofe cruel enemies,
Whom by his appointment had provok'd,
Left me all helplefs with th' irreparable lofs
Of fight, referv'd alive to be repeated
The fubject of their cruelty or scorn.
Nor am in the lift of them that hope;
Hopelefs are all my evils, all remedilefs;
This one prayer yet remains, might I be heard,
No leng petition, speedy death,
The clofe of all my miferies, and the balm.
Cuo. Many are the fayings of the wife In ancient and in modern books inroll'd, Extolling patience as the trueft fortitude: And to the bearing well of all calamities, All chances incident to man's frail life, Confolatories writ
With ftudy'dargument, and much perfuafion fough Lenient of grief and anxious thought:
But with th' afflicted in his pangs their found 660 Little prevails, or rather feems a tune
Harth, and of diffonant mood from his complaint;
Unless he feel within
Some fource of confolation from above,
Secret refreshings, that repair his ftrength, 665
And fainting fpirits uphold.
God of our fathers, what is man!
That thou tow'ards him with hand so various,
Or might I fay contrarious,
Temper ft thy providence through his short course,
Not ev'nly, as thou rul'ft
Th' angelic orders and inferior creatures mute, 2 [R]
SAMS. No, no, of my condition take no care; It fits not; thou and I long fince are twain: Nor think me fo unwary or accurs'd, To bring my feet again into the fnare Where once I have been caught; I know thy trains Though dearly to my coft, thy gins, and toils; Thy fair inchanted cup, and warbling charms No more on me have power, their force is null'd, So much of adder's wifdom I have learn'd To fence my ear against thy forceries.
If in my flower of youth and ftrength, when all
Thy husband, flight me, fell me, and forego me;
How wouldst thou ufe me now, blind, and thereby
Deceivable, in moft things as a child
Helpless, thence eafily contemn'd, and fcorn'd,
And laft neglected? How wouldft thou infult,
When I must live uxorious to thy will
In perfect thraldom, how again betray mc,
Bearing my words and doings to the lords
To glofs upon, and cenfuring, frown or fmile?
This jail I count the houfe of liberty
To thine, whofe doors my feet fhall never enter.
DAL. Let me approach at leaft, and touch thy
hand.
For peace, reap nothing but repulfe and hate?
Bid go with evil omen and the brand
Of infamy upon my name denounc'd?
To mix with thy concernments i defift
Henceforth, nor too much difapprove my own.
Fame if not double-fac'd is double-mouth'd, 971
And with contrary blaft proclames most deeds:
On both his wings, one black, the other white,
Bears greatest names in his wild aery flight.
My name perhaps among the circumcis'd
In Dan, in Judah, and the bordering tribes,
To all pofterity may ftand de fam'd,
With malediction mention'd, and the blot
Of falfhood most unconjugal traduc'd.
But in my country where I most defire,
In Ecron, Gaza, Afdod, and in Gath,
I fhall be nam'd among the famouseit
Of women, fung at folemn feftivals,
Living and dead recorded, who, to fave
Her country from a fierce deftroyer, chofe 985
Above the faith of wedlock-bands, my tomb
With odors vifited and annual flowers;
Not lofs renown'd than in mount Ephraim
Jacl, who with inhofpitable guile
Smote Sifera fleeping through the temples nail'd.
Nor fhall I count it hainous to enjoy
The public marks of honor and reward,
Conferr'd upon me, for the piety
Which to my country I was judg'd to' have shown.
At this whoever envies or repines,
I leave him to his lot, and like my own.
Cuo. She's gone, a manifeft ferpent by her fing
Difcover'd in the end, till now conceal'd.
SAMS. So let her go, God fent her to debafe me,
And aggravate my folly, who committed
To fuch a viper his moft facred truft
Of fecrefy, my fafety, and my life.
CHO. Yet beauty, though injurious, hath firange
(Which way foever men refer it)
Much like thy riddle, Samfon, in one day
Or feven, though one fhould mufing fit.
If any of thefe or all, the Timinian bride
Had not fo foon preferr'd
Thy paranymph, worthlefs to thee compar'd, Ic1 Succeffor in thy bed,
Nor both fo loofly difally'd
Their nuptials, nor this laft fo treacherously
Had fhorn the fatal harveft of thy head.
Is it for that fuch outward ornament
Was lavish'd on their fex, that inward gifts
Were left for hafte unfinish'd, judgment fcant,
Capacity not rais'd to apprehend
In choice, but ofteft to affect the wrong? 100 Or was too much of felf-love mix'd,
Of conftancy no root infix'd,
That either they love nothing, or not long? Whate'er it be, to wifeft men and best Seeming at first all heav'nly under virgin vel, Soft, modeft, meek, demure,
Once join'd, the contrary the proves, a thorn Inteftin, far within defenfive arms
A cleaving mischief, in his way to virtue
Adverfe and turbulent, or by her charms 1040 Draws him awry inflav'd
With dotage, and his sense deprav'd
To folly' and fhameful deeds which ruin ends.
On his whole life, not fway'd
By female ufurpation, or difmay'd. but had we best retire, I fee a storm?
SAMS. Fair days have oft contracted wind and rain.
CHO. But this another kind of tempeft brings.
SAMS. Be lefs abftrufe, my riddling days are paft.
CHO. Look now for no inchanting voice, nor fear
The bait of houied words; a rougher tongue
Draws hitherward, I know him by his ftride,
The giant Harapha of Gath, his look
Haughty as is his pile high-built and prond.
Comes he in peace? what wind hath blown him
hither
I lefs conjecture than when firft I faw
The fumptueus Dalila floting this way:
His habit carries peace, his brow defiance.
I lofe, prevented by thy eyes put out. SAME. Boaft not of what thou wouldst have done, but do
1104
What then thou wouldft, thon feeft it in thy hand.
HAR. To combat with a blind man I difdain,
And thou haft need much washing to be touch'd.
SAMS. Such ufage as your honorable lords
Afford me' affaffinated and betray'd,
Who durft not with their whole united powers
In fight withstand me fingle and unarm'd,
Nor in the houfe with chamber ambushes
Clofe-banded durft attack me, no not fleeping
Till they had hir'd a woman with their gold
Breaking her marriage faith to circumvent me.
Therefore without feign'd fhifts let be aflign'd
Some narrow place inclos'd, where fight may give
thee,
Or rather flight, no great advantage on me;
Then put on all thy gorgeous arms, thy helmet
And brigandine of brafs, thy broad habergeon,
Vant-brafs and greves, and gauntlet, add thy fpear,
A weaver's beam, and seven-times-folded fhield,
I only with an oaken ftaff will meet thee,
And raife fuch outcries on thy clatter'd iron,
Which long fhall not withhold me from thy head,
That in a little time while breath remains thee,
Thou oft fhalt with thyfelf at Gath to boast
Again in fafety what thou wouldst have done
To Samfon, but fhalt never fee Gath more.
HAR. Thou durft not thus difparage glorious
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Which greatest heroes have in battle worn,
Their ornament and fafety, had not spells
And black inchantments, fome magician's art,
Arm'd thee or charm'd thee ftrong, which thou
from Heaven
Feign'dft at thy birth was giv'n thee in thy hair,
Where strength can leaft abide, though all thy
hairs 1136 Were briftles rang'd like those that ridge the back Of chaf'd wild boars, or ruffled porcupines.
SAMS. I know no fpells, ufe no forbidden arts; My truft is in the living God, who gave me 1140 At my nativity this ftrength, diffus'd
No lefs through all my finews, joints, and bones, Than thine, while I preferv'd thefe locks unfhorn, The pledge of my unviolated vow.
For proof hereof, if Dagon be thy God, 1145
Go to his temple, invocate his aid
With folemneft devotion, spread before him
How highly it concerns his glory now
To fruftrate and diffolve thefe magic spells,
Which I to be the power of Ifrael's God
Avow, and challenge Dagon to the test,
Offering to combat thee his champion bold,
With th' utmost of his Godhead feconded:
Then thou shalt fee, or rather to thy forrow 1154
Soon feel, whofe God is ftrongcft, thine or mine.
HAR. Prefume not on thy God, whate'er he be,
Thee he regards not, owns not, hath cut off
Quite from his people, and deliver'd up
Into thy enemies' hand, permitted them
To put out both thine eyes, and fetter'd fend
thee
1166
Into the common prifon, there to grind
Among the flaves and alles thy comrades,
HAR. With thee, a man condemn'd, a flave inroll'd,
Due by the law to capital punishment?
To fight with thee no man of arms will deign.
SAMS. Cam't thou for this, vain boaiter, to
furvey me,
To défcant on my ftrength, and give thy verdict?
Come nearer, part not hence fo flight inform'd; But take good heed my hand survey not thee.
HAR. O Baal-zebub! can my ears unus'd 1231 Hear thefe difhonore, and not render death? SAMS No man withholds thee, nothing from thy hand
Fear I incurable; bring up thy van,
My heels are fetter'd, but my fift is free.
With no finall profit daily to my owners.
But come what will, my deadlieft foe will prove
My fpeedieft friend, by death to rid me hence,
The worst that he can give, to me the best.
Yet fo it may fall out, becaufe their end
Is hate, not help to me, it may with mine
Draw their own ruin who attempt the deed.
Cro. Oh how comely it is, and how reviving
To the fpirits of juft men long opprefs'd!
When God into the hands of their deliverer 1170
Puts invincible might
To quell the mighty of the earth, th' oppreffor, The brute and boisterous force of violent men Hardy and induftrious to fupport
Tyrannic power, but raging to pursue
The righteous and all fuch as honor truth;
He all their ammunition
With plain heroic magnitude of mind
And celeftial vigor arm'd,
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