In wedlock a reproach; I gain'd a fon,
And fuch a fon 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 defirable, to tempt
Our earnest pray'rs, then, giv'n with folemn hand
As graces, draw a scorpion's tail behind?
For this did th' Angel twice defcend? for this
Ordain'd thy nurture holy, as of a plant
Select, and facred, glorious for a while,
The miracle of men; then in an hour
Infnar'd, affaulted, overcome, led bound,
Thy foes derifion, captive, poor and blind,
Into a dungeon thruft, to work with flaves?
Alas methinks whom God hath chofen once
To worthieft deeds, if he through frailty err,
He should not fo o'erwhelm, and as a thrall
Subject him to so foul indignities,
SAMS. Appoint not heav'nly difpofition, Father;
Be it but for honor's fake of former deeds.
Nothing of all these evils hath befall'n me
But juftly; I myself have brought them on,
Sole author I, fole caufe: if ought feem vile,
As vile hath been my folly, who' have profan'd
The mystery of God giv'n 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 furpris'd,
But warn'd by oft' experience: did not she
Of Timna first betray me, and reveal
The fecret wrefted from me in her highth
Of nuptial love profefs'd, carrying it ftrait
To them who had corrupted her, my spies
And rivals? In this other was there found
More faith, who alfo in her prime of love,
Spoufal embraces, vitiated with gold,
Though offer'd only, by the fcent conceiv'd
Her fpurious first-born, treason against me?
Thrice fhe affay'd with flattering prayers and fighs,
And amorous reproaches, to win from me
My capital fecret, in what part my strength
Lay ftor'd, in what part fumm'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 worfe
Than undiffembled hate) with what contempt
She fought to make me traitor to myself;
Yet the fourth time, when muftering all her wiles,
With blandifh'd parlies, feminine affaults,
Tongue-batterics, fhe furceas'd not day nor night
To ftorm me over-watch'd, and wearied out,
At times when men seek most repose and rest,
I yielded, and unlock'd her all my heart,
Who with a grain of manhood well refolv'd
Might easily have shook off all her fnares :
But foul effeminacy held me yok'd
Her bond-flave; O indignity, O blot
To honor and religion! fervile mind
Rewarded well with fervile punishment!
The bafe 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 flavery, and that blindness worse than this,
That faw not how degenerately I serv’d.
MAN. I cannot praise thy marriage choices, Son,
Rather approv'd them not; but thou didst plead
Divine impulfion prompting how thou might'ft
Find fome occafion to infeft our foes.
I state not that; this I am fure, our foes
Found foon occasion 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 430 Enough, and more, the burden of that fault;
Bitterly haft thou paid, and still art paying
That rigid fcore. A worse thing yet remains,
This day the Philistines a popular feast
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 slew'st them many a slain.
So Dagon fhall be magnify'd; and God,
Befides whom is no God, compar'd with idols
Difglorify'd, blafphem'd, and had in fcorn
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, 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 honor, I this pomp have brought
To Dagon, and advanc'd his praises high
Among the Heathen round; to God have brought
Dishonor, obloquy, and op'd the mouths
Of idolists, and atheists; have brought scandal
To Ifrael, 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, fhame, and forrow,
The anguish of my foul, that fuffers not
Mine eye to harbour sleep, or thoughts to rest.
This only hope relieves me, that the strife
With me hath end; all the contéft is now
"Twixt God and Dagon; Dagon hath prefum'd,
Me overthrown, to enter lifts with God,
His deity comparing and preferring
Before the God of Abraham. He, be fure,
Will not connive, or linger, thus provok'd,
But will arife and his great name affert :
Dagon must stoop, and shall ere long receive
Such a discomfit, as fhall quite defpoil him
Of all these boasted trophies won on me,
And with confufion blank his worshipers..
MAN. With cause this hope relieves thee, and these
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
Indure 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 fome Philiftian lords, with whom to treat
About thy ranfome: well they may by this
Have fatisfied their utmost of revenge
By pains and flaveries, worse than death inflicted 485
On thee, who now no more canft do them harm.
SAMS. Spare that proposal, 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 counsel have not kept, his holy fecret
Prefumptuously have publish'd, impiously,
Weakly at least, and shamefully: a fin
That Gentiles in their parables condemn
To their abyss and horrid pains confin'd.
MAN. Be penitent and for thy fault contrite,
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