But who are these? for with joint pace I hear
The tread of many feet steering this way;
Perhaps my enemies who come to ftare
At my affliction, and perhaps t' infult,
Their daily practice to afflict me more.
Chor. This, this is he; foftly a while,
Let us not break in upon him;
O change beyond report, thought or belief!
See how he lies at random, carelefly diffus'd,
With languish'd head uppropt,
As one past hope, abandon'd,
And by himself giv'n over?
In flavish habit, ill-fitted weeds
O'er-worn and foil'd;
Or do my eyes misreprefent? can this be he,
That heroic, that renown'd,
Irrefiftible Samfon; whom unarm'd
Noftrength of man, or fierceft wild beat could with lands Who tore the lion, as the lion tears the kid,
Ran on imbattled armies clad in iron,
And weaponlefs himfelf,
Made arms ridiculous, ufelefs the forgery.
Of brazen fhield and fpear, the hammer'd cuirafs
Chalybean temper'd fteel, and frock of mail
Adamantean proof;
But fafelt he who stood aloof,
When infupportably his foot advanc'd,
In fcorn of their proud arms and warlike tools,
Spurn'd them to death by troops. The bold Afcalonite
Fled from his lion ramp, old warriors turn'd
Their plated backs puder his heel;
Or grov'ling foil'd their crefted helmets in the duft.
Then with what trivial weapon came to hand,
The jaw of a dead afs, his fword of bone,
A thousand foreskins fell, the flow'r of Paleftin,
In Ramath-lechi famous to this day:
Then by main force pull'd up and on his Thoulders bore
The gates of Azza, poft, and maffy bar
Up to the hill by Hebron, feat of giants old,
No journey of a fabbath-day, and loaded fo;
Like whom the Gentiles feign to bear up heav'n.
Which fhall I fitft bewail,
Thy bondage or loft fight,
Prifon within prifon
Infeparably dark?
Thou art become (O worlt imprisonment!)
The dungeon of thyfelf; thy foul
(Which men enjoying fight oft without caufe comImprifon'd now indeed,
In real darkness of the body dwells,
Shut up from outward light
T' incorporate with gloomy hight;
For inward light alas
Puts forth no visual beam.
O mirror of our fickle ftaté,
Since man on earth unparallel'd
The rarer thy example ftands,.
By how much from the top of wondrous glory,
Strongest of mortal men,
To loweft pitch of abject fortune thou art fall'n.
For him I reckon not in high eftate,
Whom long defcent of birth
Or the sphere of fortune raifes;
But thee whofe ftrength, while virtue was her mate, Might have fubdu'd the earth,
Univerfally crown'd with highest praifes.
Samf. I hear the found of words, their fenfe the air Diffolves unjointed ere it reach my ear.
Chor. He fpake, let us draw nigh. Matchlefs in might, The glory late of Ifrael, now the grief,
We come thy friends and neighbours not unknown
From Efhtaol and Zora's fruitful vale
To vifit or bewail thee, or if better,
Counfel or confolation we may bring,
Salve to thy fores, apt words have pow'r to fwage
The tumours of a troubled mind,
And are as balm to fefter'd wounds.
Samf. Your coming, friends, revives me, for I learn
Now of my own experience, not by talk,
How counterfeit a coin they are who friends
Bear in their fuperfcription (of the most
I would be understood) in profp'rous days
They fwarm, but in adverfe withdraw their head
Not to be found, though fought. Ye fee, O friends
How many evils have inclos'd me round;
Yet that which was the worst now leaft afflicts me,
Blindness, for had I fight, confus'd with fhame,
How could I once look up, or heave the head,
Who like a foolish pilot have fhipwreck'd
My veffel trufted to me from above,
Gloriously rigg'd; and for a word, a tear,
Fool, have divulg'd the fecret gift of God
To a deceitful woman? tell me, friends,
Am I not fung and proverb'd for a fool
In ev'ry street, do they not fay, how well
Are come upon him his deferts? yet why?
Immeasurable ftrength they might behold
In me, of wisdom nothing more than mean;
This with the other fhould, at least, have pair'd,
These two proportion'd ill drove me tranfverse.
Chor. Tax not divine difpofal, wifeft men
Have err'd, and by bad women been deceiv'd;
And fhall again, pretend they ne'er so wife.
Deject not then fo overmuch thyself,
Who haft of forrow thy full load befides;
Yet truth to fay, I oft have heard men wonder
Why thou should'st wed Philiftian woman rather
Than of thine own tribe fairer, or as fair,
At least of thy own nation, and as noble.
Samf. The first I faw at Timna, and the pleas'd
Me, not my parents, that I fought to wed,
The daughter of an infidel; they knew not
That what I mention'd was of God; I knew
From intimate impulfe, and therefore urg'd
The marriage on; that by occafion hence
I might begin Ifrael's deliverance,
The work to which I was divinely call'd.
She proving falfe, the next I took to wife
(O that I never had! fond with too late,)
Was in the vale of Sorec, Dalila,
That fpecious monster, my accomplish'd fnare.
I thought it lawful from my former act,
And the fame end; ftill watching to oppress
Ifrael's oppreffors: of what now I fuffer,
She was not the prime caufe, but I myself,
Who vanquish'd with a peal of words (O weakness !)
Gave up my fort of filence to a woman.
Chor. In feeking juft occafion to provoke
The Philiftin, thy country's enemy,
Thou never waft remifs, I bear thee witness:
Yet Ifrael ftill ferves with all his fons.
Samf. That fault I take not on me, but transfer
On Ifrael's governors, and heads of tribes,
Who seeing those great acts which God had done
Singly by me against their conquerors,
Acknowleg'd not, or not at all confider'd
Deliv'rance offer'd: I on the other fide
Us'd no ambition to commend my deeds,
The deeds themselves, though mute, fpoke loud the
But they perfifted deaf, and would not feem
To count them things worth notice, till at length
Their lords the Philiftines with gather'd pow'rs
Enter'd Judea feeking me, who then
Safe to the rock of Etham was retir'd,
Not flying, but fore-cafting in what place
To fet upon them what advantag'd beft.
Mean while the men of Judah to prevent
The harrafs of their land befet me round;
I willingly on fome conditions came
Into their hands, and they as gladly yield me.
To the uncircumcis'd a welcome prey,
Bound with two cords; but cords to me were threds
Touch'd with the flame: on their whole host I flew
Unarm'd, and with a trivial weapon fell'd
Their choiceft youth; they only liv'd who fled.
Had Judah that day join'd, or one whole tribe,
They had by this poffefs'd the tow'rs of Gath,
And lorded over them whom now they ferve:
But what more oft in nations grown corrupt,
And by their vices brought to fervitude,
Than to love bondage more than liberty,
Bondage with eafe than ftrenuous liberty;
And to defpife, or envy, or fufpect
Whom God hath of his fpecial favour rais'd
As their deliv❜rer; if he aught begin,
How frequent to defert him, and at last
To heap ingratitude on worthieft deeds?
Chor, Thy words to my remembrance bring
How Succoth and the fort of Penuel
Their great deliverer contemn'd,
The matchlefs Gideon in pursuit
Of Madian and her vanquish'd kings:
And how ingrateful Ephraim
Had dealt with Jephtha; who by argument,
Not worse than by his shield and spear
Defended Ifrael from the Ammonite,
Had not his prowefs quell'd their pride
In that fore battle, when fo many dy'd
Without reprieve adjudg'd to death,
For want of well pronouncing Shibboleth.
Samf. Of fuch examples add me to the roll,
Me eafily indeed mine may neglect,
But God's propos'd deliverance not fo.
Chor. Juft are the ways of God,
And juftifiable to men ;
Unless there be who think not God at all;
If any be, they walk obfcure;
For of fuch doctrine never was their school,
But the heart of the fool,
And no man therein doctor but himself.
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