Man. O miserable change! is this the man, That invincible Samson, far renown'd,
The dread of Israel's foes, who with a strength Equivalent to angels walk'd their streets, None offering fight; who single combatant Duell'd their armies rank'd in proud array, Himself an army, now unequal match To save himself against a coward arm'd At one spear's length. O ever-failing trust In mortal strength! and oh! what not in man Deceivable and vain? Nay, what thing good Pray'd for, but often proves our woe, our bane? I pray'd for children, and thought barrenness In wedlock a reproach; I gain'd a son, And such a son as all men hail'd me happy; Who would be now a father in my stead? O wherefore did God grant me my request, And as a blessing with such pomp adorn'd?
Why are his gifts desirable, to tempt
Our earnest pray'rs, then, giv'n with solemn hand
As graces, draw a scorpion's tail behind?
For this did th' Angel twice descend? for this Ordain'd thy nurture holy, as of a plant Select, and sacred, glorious for a while, The miracle of men; then in an hour Insnar'd, assaulted, overcome, led bound, Thy foes' derision, captive, poor, and blind, Into a dungeon thrust, to work with slaves? Alas! methinks whom God hath chosen once To worthiest deeds, if he through frailty err, He should not so o'erwhelm, and as a thrall Subject him to so foul indignities, Be it but for honour's sake of former deeds. Sams. Appoint not heav'nly disposition, Father; Nothing of all these evils hath befall'n me But justly; I myself have brought them on, Sole author I, sole cause: if aught seem vile,
373.Appoint not heav'nly disposition,"....Arraign
not....summon not to answer.
As vile hath been my folly, who have profan'd The mystery of God giv'u me under pledge of vow, and have betray'd it to a woman, A Canaanite, my faithless enemy. This well I knew, nor was at all surpris'd, But warn'd by oft experience: did not she Of Timna first betray me, and reveal The secret wrested from me in her height Of nuptial love profess'd, carrying it straight To them who had corrupted her, my spies, And rivals? In this other was there found More faith, who also in her prime of love, Spousal embraces, vitiated with gold,
Though offer'd only, by the scent conceiv'd Her spurious first-born, treason against me?
Thrice she assay'd with flattering pray'rs and sighs,
And amorous reproaches, to win from me
My capital secret, in what part my strength
Lay stor❜d, in what part summ'd, that she might know; Thrice I deluded her, and turn'd to sport Her importunity, each time perceiving How openly, and with what impudence
She purpos'd to betray me, and (which was worse Than undissembled hate) with what contempt She sought to make me traitor to myself; Yet the fourth time, when, must'ring all her wiles, With blandish'd parlies, feminine assaults, Tongue-batteries, she surceas'd not, day nor night, To storm me over-watch'd, and weary'd out, At times when men seek most repose and rest, I yielded, and unloek'd her all my heart, Who, with a grain of manhood well resolv'd, Might easily have shook off all her snares: But foul effeminacy held me yok'd
Her bond-slave; O indignity, O blot To honour and religion! servile mind Rewarded well with servile punishment! The base degree to which I now am fall'n, These rags, this grinding is not yet so base As was my former servitude, ignoble,
Unmanly, ignominious, infamous,
True slavery, and that blindness worse than this, That saw not how degenerately I serv❜d.
Man. I cannot praise thy marriage choices, Son, 420 Rather approv❜d them not; but thou didst plead Divine impulsion prompting how thou might'st Find some occasion to infest our foes.
I state not that; this I am sure, our foes Found soon occasion thereby to make thee
Their captive, and their triumph; thou the sooner Temptation found'st, or over-potent charms, To violate the sacred trust of silence Deposited within thee; which to have kept
Tacit, was in thy pow'r: true; and thou bear'st 430 Enough, and more, the burden of that fault; Bitterly hast thou paid, and still art paying, That rigid score. A worse thing yet remains; This day the Philistines a popular feast Here celebrate in Gaza; and proclaim Great pomp, and sacrifice, and praises loud, To Dagon, as their God who hath deliver'd Thee, Samson, bound and blind into their hands, Them out of thine, who slew'st them many a slain. So Dagon shall be magnify'd, and God, Besides whom is no God, compar'd with idols, Disglorify'd, blasphem'd, and had in scorn By the idolatrous rout amidst their wine; Which to have come to pass by means of thee, Samson, of all thy sufferings think the heaviest, 445 Of all reproach the most with shame that ever Could have befall'n thee and thy father's house. Sams. Father, I do acknowledge and confess That I this honour, I this pomp have brought To Dagon, and advane'd his praises high Among the Heathen round; to God have brought Dishonour, obloquy, and op'd the mouths Of idolists, and atheists; have brought scandal To Israel, diffidence of God, and doubt In feeble hearts, propense enough before To waver, or fall off and join with idols;
Which is my chief affliction, shame and sorrow, The anguish of my soul, that suffers not Mine eye to harbour sleep, or thoughts to rest. This only hope relieves me, that the strife With me hath end; all the contést is now "Twixt God and Dagon; Dagon hath presum'd, Me overthrown, to enter lists with God, His deity comparing and preferring
Before the God of Abraham. He, be sure, Will not connive, or linger, thus provok'd, But will arise, and his great name assert: Dagon must stoop, and shall ere long receive Such a discomfit, as shall quite despoil him Of all these boasted trophies won on me, And with confusion blank his worshippers.
Man. With cause 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, nor will long
Endure it doubtful whether God be Lord,
Or Dagon. But for thee what shall be done? Thou must not, in the mean while here forgot, Lie in this miserable loathsome plight,
Neglected. I already have made way
To some Philistian lords, with whom to treat
About thy ransom: well they may by this Have satisfy'd their utmost of revenge
By pains and slaveries, worse than death, inflicted 485 On thee, who now no more canst do them harm.
Sams. Spare that proposal, Father; spare the trouble Of that solicitation; let me here,
As I deserve, pay on my punishment;
And expiate, if possible, my crime,
Shameful garrulity. To have reveal'd
Secrets of men, the secrets of a friend,
How beinous had the fact been, how deserving Contempt, and scorn of all, to be excluded All friendship, and avoided as a blab,
The mark of fool set on his front?
But I God's counsel have not kept, his holy secret Presumptuously have publish'd, impiously, Weakly at least, and shamefully; a sin That Gentiles in their parables condemn To their abyss and horrid pains confin'd.
Man. Be penitent, and for thy fault contrite; But act not in thy own affliction, Son:
Repent the sin; but, if the punishment Thou canst avoid, self-preservation bids; Or th' execution leave to high disposal, And let another hand, not thine, exact Thy penal forfeit from thyself: perhaps
God will relent, and quit thee all his debt ; Who ever more approves, and more accepts, (Best pleas'd with humble' and filial submission,) Him, who, imploring mercy, sues for life, Than who, self-rigorous, chooses death as due; Which argues over-just, and self-displeas'd For self-offence, more than for God offended. Reject not then what offer'd means, who knows But God hath set before us, to return thee Home to thy country and his sacred house, Where thou may'st bring thy offerings, to avert His further ire, with pray'rs and vows renew'd?
Sams. His pardon I implore; but as for life, To what end should I seek it? when in strength All mortals I excell'd, and great in hopes
With youthful courage, and magnanimous thoughtsOf birth from Heav'n foretold, and high exploits, 525 Full of divine instinct, after some proof
Of acts indeed heroic, far beyond
The sons of Anak, famous now and blaz'd, Fearless of danger, like a petty God
I walk'd about admir'd of all and dreaded On hostile ground, none daring my affront. Then swoll'n with pride into the snare I fell
531. "None daring my affront."...to front or face me in a hostile manner.
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