At length to lay my head and hallow'd pledge Of all my strength in the lascivious lap Of a deceitful concubine, who shore me Like a tame wether, all my precious fleece, Then turn'd me out ridiculous, despoil'd, Shaven, and disarm'd among mine enemies.
Chor. Desire of wine and all delicious drinks, Which many a famous warrior overturns, Thou couldst repress; nor did the dancing ruby Sparkling, out-pour'd, the flavour, or the smell, Or taste that cheers the heart of gods or men, Allure thee from the cool crystalline stream.
Sams. Wherever fountain or fresh current Against the eastern ray, translucent, pure[flow'd With touch ethereal of Heaven's fiery rod, I drank, from the clear milky juice allaying Thirst, and refresh'd: nor envied them the grape Whose heads that turbulent liququr fills with fumes.
Chor. O madness, to think use of strongest wines
And strongest drinks our chief support of health, When God with these forbidd'n made choice to
His mighty champion, strong above compare, Whose drink was only from the liquid brook. Sams. But what avail'd this temperance, not complete
Against another object more enticing? What boots it at one gate to make defence, And at another to let in the foe,
Effeminately vanquish'd? by which means, Now blind, dishearten'd, sham'd, dishonour'd, quell'd,
To what can I be useful, wherein serve My nation, and the work from Heaven impos'd, But to sit idle on the household hearth, A burdenous drone; to visitants a gaze, Or pitied object, these redundant locks Robustious to no purpose clustering down, Vain monument of strength; till length of years And sedentary numbness craze my limbs To a contemptible old age obscure? Here rather let me drudge, and earn my bread; Till vermin, or the draff of servile food, Consume me, and oft-invocated death Hasten the welcome end of all my pains. Man. Wilt thou then serve the Philistines with that gift
Which was expressly given thee to annoy them? Better at home lie bed-rid, not only idle, Inglorious, unemploy'd, with age outworn. But God, who caus'd a fountain at thy prayer From the dry ground to spring, thy thirst to allay After the brunt of battle, can as easy Cause light again within thy eyes to spring, Wherewith to serve him better than thou hast; And I persuade me so; why else this strength Miraculous yet remaining in those locks? His might continues in thee not for nought, Nor shall his wonderous gifts be frustrate thus. Sams. All otherwise to me my thoughts por- tend, [light, That these dark orbs no more shall treat with Nor the other light of life continue long, But yield to double darkness nigh at hand: So much I feel my genial spirits droop, My hopes all flat, Nature within me seems In all her functions weary of herself;
My race of glory run, and race of shame, And I shall shortly be with them that rest. Man. Believe not these suggestions, which
From anguish of the mind and humours black, That mingle with thy fancy. I however Must not omit a father's timely care To prosecute the means of thy deliverance By ransom, or how else: mean while be calm, And healing words from these thy friends admit. [Exit.]
Sams. O that torment should not be confin'd To the body's wounds and sores, With maladies innumerable In heart, head, breast, and reins; But must secret passage find 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, 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 immedicable Rankle, and fester, and gangrene, To black mortification.
Thoughts, my tormentors, arm'd with deadly Mangle my apprehensive tenderest parts, Exasperate, exulcerate, and raise
Dire inflammation, which no cooling herb Or med'cinal 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: Thence faintings, swoonings of despair,
And sense of Heaven's desertion.
I was his nursling once, and choice delight, His destin'd from the womb,
Promis'd by heavenly message twice descending. Under his special eye
Absteminous I grew up, and thriv'd amain; He led me on to mightiest deeds, Above the nerve of mortal arm, Against the uncircumcis'd, our enemies : But now hath cast me off as never known, And to those cruel enemies,
Whom I by his appointment had provok'd, Left me all helpless, with the irreparable loss Of sight, reserv'd alive to be repeated 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, The close of all my miseries, and the balm.
Chor. Many are the sayings of the wise, In ancient and in modern books inroll'd, Extolling patience as the truest fortitude; And to the bearing well of all calamities, All chances incidents to man's frail life, Consolatories writ [sought With studied argument, and much persuasion Lenient of grief and anxious thought:
But with the afflicted in his pangs their sound Little prevails, or rather seems a tune [plaint; Harsh, and of dissonant nood from his comUnless he feel within
Temper'st thy providence through his short Not evenly, as thou rul'st
The angelic orders, and inferior creatures Irrational and brute.
Nor do I name of men the common rout, That, wandering loose about,
Grow up and perish, as the summer-fly, Heads without name no more remember'd; But such as thou hast solemnly elected, With gifts and graces eminently adorn'd, To some great work, thy glory,
And people's safety, which in part they effect: Yet toward these thus dignified, thou oft, Amidst their height of noon,
[no regard Changest thy countenance, and thy hand, with Of highest favours past
From thee on them, or them to thee of service. Nor only dost degrade them, or remit To life obscur'd, which were a fair dismission, But throw'st them lower than thou didst exalt Unseemly falls in human eye, [them high,
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 captiv'd; Or to the unjust tribunals, under change of times, 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 deform'd,
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 cham- pion,
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? Female of sex it seems,
That so bedeck'd, ornate, and gay, Comes this way sailing
Like a stately ship
Of Tarsus, bound for the isles
Of Javan or Gadire
With all her bravery on, and tackle trim, Sails fill'd, and streamers waving, Courted by all the winds that hold them play, An amber scent of odorous perfume 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.
And words address'd seem into tears dissolv'd, Wetting the borders of her silken veil : But now again she makes address to speak. [Enter] Dalila.
Dal. With doubtful feet and wavering reso- Jution
I came, still dreading thy displeasure, Samson, Which to have merited, without excuse,
I cannot but acknowledge; yet, if tears May expiate, (though the fact more evil drew In the perverse event than I foresaw,) My penance hath not slacken'd, though my par- No way assur'd. But conjugal affection, Prevailing over fear and timorous doubt, 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 suffer'st, and appease Thy mind with what amends is in my power, Though late, yet in some part to recompense My rash, but more unfortunate, misdeed.
Sams. Out, out, hyæna! these are thy wonted arts,
And arts of every woman false like thee, To break all faith, all vows, deceive, betray, Then as repentant to submit, beseech, And reconcilement move with feign'd remorse, Confess, and promise wonders in her change; Not truly penitent, but chief to try Her husband, how far urg'd his patience bears, 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 beguil'd, With goodness principled not to reject 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.
Dal. Yet hear me, Samson; not that I en- To lessen or extenuate my offence, [deavour But that on the other side, if it be weigh'd By itself, with aggravations not surcharg'd, Or else with just allowance counterpois'd, 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, impórtune,
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? To what I did thou show'd'st me first the way. But I to enemies reveal'd, and should not : Nor should'st thou have trusted that to woman's Ere I to thee, thou to thyself wast cruel.[frailty: Let weakness then with weakness come to parle, So near related, or the same of kind.
Sams. My wife! my traitress: let her not Thine forgive mine; that men may censure thine
Chor. Yet on she moves, now stands and eyes thee fix'd, [clin'd, About to have spoke; but now, with head deLike a fair flower surcharg'd with dew, she weeps,
The gentler, if severely thou exact not [found. More strength from me, than in thyself was And what if love, which thou interpret'st hate, The jealousy of love, powerful of sway In human hearts, nor less in mind towards thee, Caus'd what I did? I saw thee mutable
Of fancy, fear'd lest one day thou would'st leave
As her at Timna, sought by all means therefore How to endear, and hold thee to me firmest: No better way I saw than by impórtuning To learn thy secrets, get into my power Thy key of strength and safety: thou wilt say, Why then reveal'd? I was assur'd by those Who tempted me, that nothing was design'd 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, Wailing thy absence in my widow'd 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. These reasons in love's law have past for good, Though fond and reasonless to some perhaps : And love hath oft, well meaning, wrought much
Yet always pity or pardon hath obtain❜d. Be not unlike all others, not austere As thou art strong, inflexible as steel. If thou in strength all mortals dost exceed, In uncompassionate anger do not so.
Sams. How cunningly the sorceress displays Her own transgressions, to upbraid me mine! That malice, not repentance, brought thee hither, By this appears: I gave, thou say'st, the ex- ample,
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, Take to thy wicked deed; which when thou seest Impartial, self-severe, inexorable,
Thou wilt renounce thy seeking, and much rather Confess it feign'd: weakness is thy excuse, And I believe it; weakness to resist Philistian gold: if weakness may excuse, What murderer, 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. But love constrain'd 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 To raise in me inexpiable hate, Knowing, as needs I must, by thee betray'd? In vain thou striv'st to cover shame with shame, Or by evasions thy crime uncover'st more.
Dal. Since thou determin'st weakness for no
Was not behind, but ever at my ear, It would be to ensnare an irreligious Preaching how meritorious with the gods 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 contést: at length that grounded maxim,
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 prevail'd; Virtue, as I thought, truth, duty, so enjoining. Sams. I thought where all thy circling wiles would end;
In feign'd religion, smooth hypocrisy ! But had thy love, still odiously pretended, [thee Been, as it ought, sincere, it would have taught I, before all the daughters of my tribe Far other reasonings, brought forth other deeds. And of my nation, chose thee from among My enemies, lov'd thee, as too well thou knew'st; Too well; unbosom'd all my secrets to thee, Not out of levity, but over-power'd
By thy request, who could deny thee nothing; Yet now am judg'd an enemy. Why then Did'st thou at first receive me for thy husband, Being once a wife, for me thou wast to leave Then, as since then, thy country's foe profess'd ? 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; No more thy country, but an impions crew By worse than hostile deeds, violating the ends Of men conspiring to uphold their state For which our country is a name so dear; Not therefore to be obey'd. But zeal mov'd thee; 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 pleas'd, obey'd or fear'd. These false pretexts, and varnish'd colours fail- ing,
Bare in thy guilt, how foul must thou appear? Dal. In argument with men a woman ever Goes by the worse whatever be her cause. Sams. For want of words no doubt, or lack of breath;
Witness when I was worried with thy peals. Dal. I was a fool, too rash, and quite mistaken
In man or woman, though to thy own condemn-In what I thought would have succeeded best.
Hear what assaults I had, what snares besides, What sieges girt me round, ere I consented; Which might have aw'd the best-resolv'd of men, The constantest, to have yielded without blame. It was not gold, as to my charge thou lay'st,
Let me obtain forgiveness of thee, Samson; Afford me place to show what recompense Towards thee I intend for what I have misdone, Misguided; only what remains past cure Bear not too sensibly, nor still insist
That wrought with me: thou know'st the magis-To afflict thyself in vain: though sight be lost,
And princes of my country came in person, Solicited, commanded, threaten'd, urg'd, Adjur'd by all the bonds of civil duty And of religion, press'd how just it was, How honourable, how glorious, to entrap A common enemy, who had destroy'd Such numbers of our nation: and the priest
Life yet hath many solaces, enjoy'd 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 doubting Their favourable ear, that I may fetch thee From forth this loathsome prison-house to abide
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 null'd; So much of adder's wisdom I have learn'd, To fence my ear against thy sorceries. If in my flower of youth and strength, when all [hate me Lov'd, honour'd, fear'd me, thou alone could'st Thy husband, slight me, sell me, and forego me; How wouldst thou use me now, blind, and thereby Deceivable, in most things as a child Helpless, thence easily contemn'd and scorn'd, And last neglected? how would'st thou insult, When I must live uxorious to thy will
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. Dal. Let me approach at least, and touch thy hand.
Sams. 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 works It hath brought forth to make thee memorable Among illustrious women, faithful wives! Cherish thy hasten'd widowhood with the gold Of matrimonial treason! so farewell.
Dal. I see thou art implacable, more deaf To prayers, than winds and seas; yet winds to Are reconcil'd at length, and sea to shore: [seas Thy anger, unappeasable, still rages, Eternal tempest, never to be calm'd. Why do I humble thus myself, and, suing For peace, reap nothing but repulse and hate? Bid go with evil omen, and the brand Of infamy upon my name denounc'd ? To mix with thy concernments I desist Henceforth, nor too much disapprove my own. Fame, if not double-fac'd, is double-mouth'd, And with contrary 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 circumcis'd In Dan, in Judah, and the bordering tribes, To all posterity may stand defain'd, With malediction mention'd, and the blot Of falsehood most unconjugal traduc'd. But in my country, where I most desire, In Ecron, Gaza, Asdod, and in Gath, I shall be nam'd among the famousest Of women, sung at solemn festivals, Living and dead recorded, who, to save Her country from a fierce destroyer, chose Above the faith of wedlock-bands; my tomb
With odours visited and annual flowers; Not less renown'd than in mount Ephraim Jael, who with hospitable guile Smote Sisera sleeping, through the temples nail'd Nor shall I count it heinous to enjoy The public marks of honour 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. [Exil.] Chor. She's gone, a manifest serpent by her
Discover'd in the end, till now conceal'd.
Sams. So let her go; God sent her to debase And aggravate my folly, who committed To such a viper his most sacred trust Of secresy, my safety, and my life. Chor. Yet beauty, though injurious, hath strange power,
After öffence returning, to regain Love once possess'd, nor can be easily Repuls'd, without much inward passion felt And secret sting of amorous remorse.
Sams. Love-quarrels oft in pleasing concord Not wedlock-treachery endangering life.
Chor. It is not virtue, wisdom, valour, wit, 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 it,) 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 preferr'd
Thy paranymph, worthless to thee compar'd, Successor in thy bed,
Nor both so loosely disallied
Their nuptials, nor this last so treacherous Had shorn the fatal harvest of thy head.
Is it for that such outward ornament Was lavish'd on their sex, that inward gifts Were left for haste unfinish'd, judgment scant, Capacity not rais'd to apprehend
In choice, but oftest to affect the wrong ? Or was too much of self-love mix'd, Of constancy no root infix'd, 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, Soft, modest, meek, demure,
Once join'd, 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 charms Draws him awry enslav'd
With dotage, and his sense deprav'd
To folly and shameful deeds which ruim ends. What pilot so expert but needs must wreck Imbark'd with such a steers-mate at the helm ? Favour'd 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 And all temptation can remove,
Most shines, and most is acceptable above. Therefore God's universal law
Give to the man despotic power Over his female in due awe,
Nor from that right to part an hour, Smile she or lour:
So shall he least confusion draw
On his whole life, not sway'd
By female usurpation, or dismay'd.
But had we best retire? I see a storm.
Sams. Fair days have oft contracted wind and rain.
Chor. But this another kind of tempest brings. Sams. Be less abstruse, my riddling days are past.
Chor. Look now for no enchanting voice, nor fear
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 I less conjecture than when first I saw [hither The sumptuous Dalila floating this way: His habit carries peace, his brow defiance. Sams. Or peace, or not, alike to me he comes. Chor. His fraught we soon shall know, he now arrives.
Har. 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 renown'd As Og, of Anak, and the Emims old
That Kiriathaim held; thou know'st me now If thou at all art known. Much I have heard Of thy prodigious might and feats perform'd, Incredible to me, in this displeas'd, That I was never present on the place
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 walk'd about, and each limb to survey, If thy appearance answer loud report.
Sams. The way to know were not to see but taste.
Har. Dost thou already single me? I thought Gyves and the mill had tam'd thee. O that fortune Had brought me to the field, where thou art fam'd
To have wrought such wonders with an ass's jaw! I should have forc'd thee soon with other arms, Or left thy carcass where the ass lay thrown: So had the glory of prowess been recover'd To Palestine, won by a Philistine,
Were bristles rang'd like those that ridge the back Of chaf'd wild boars, or ruffled porcupines.
Sams. I know no spells, use no forbidden arts; My trust is in the living God, who gave me At my nativity this strength, diffus'd No less through all my sinews, joints, and bones, Than thine, while I preserv'd these locks unshorn, The pledge of my unviolated vow. For proof hereof, if Dagon be thy god, 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 God 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. Har. Presume 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 send the 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
From the unforeskin'd race, of whom thou bear'st 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. Sams. Boast not of what thou would'st have For valour to assail, nor by the sword done, but do Of noble warrior, so to stain his honour,
What then thou would'st; thou seest it in thy But by the barber's razor best subdued.
Har. To combat with a blind man I disdain, And thou hast need much washing to be touch'd. Sams. Such usage as your honourable lords Afford me, assassinated and betray'd, Who durst not with their whole united powers In fight withstand me single and unarm❜d,
Sams. All these indignities, for such they are From thine, these evils I deserve, and more, Acknowledge them from God inflicted on ine 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
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