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That invincible Samson, far renown'd,

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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 ;

character of Manoah to represent him, as Milton does, even complaining and murmuring at this disposition of heaven, in the first bitterness of his soul. Such sudden starts of infirmity are ascribed to some of the greatest personages in Scripture, and it is agreeable to that well known maxim, that religion may regulate, but can never eradicate, natural passions and affections. Thyer.

352. I pray'd for children, and

thought barrenness
In wedlock a reproach ;]
Some lines from a fragment of
Euripides may be introduced
here. They are very beautiful,
and not impertinent.

Γυναι, φίλον μεν φέγγος ἡλιου τοδε,
Καλον δε ποντου χευμ' ιδειν ευηνεμον,
Γητ' ηρινον θαλλουσα, πλουσιον θ ύδωρ
Πολλων τ' επαινον εστι μοι λεξαι καλών.
Αλλ' ουδεν οὕτω λαμπρον, ουδ' ίδειν καλον,
Ως τοις απαισι, και ποθῳ δεδηγμενοις,
Παιδων νεογνών εν δόμοις ίδειν φαος.

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350

Mulier, amicum solis hoc magni ju

bar,

Dulce et tueri maria cum venti silent : Dulce est et amnis largus, et vernans humus:

Sunt aliis pulchra multa, quæ possum addere.

Sed crede nullum gratius spectaculum
est,

Quam post querelas orbitatis tetrica,
Conspicere florem liberum orientem

domi.

Eurip. Barnes, p. 443. Calton.

354. And such a son &c.] It is very hard that the editors of Milton have never taken the pains to correct the errors of the first edition, which he had himself corrected. This verse at first was printed imperfect, and it has been followed in all the editions,

Such a son as all men hail'd me happy;

And was wanting in the beginning,

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
draw a scorpion's tail behind? ›

As

graces,

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.
SAMSON.

Appoint not heav'nly disposition, father;
Nothing of all these evils hath befall'n me
But justly; I myself have brought them on,

so Milton himself corrected it, and so Mr. Jortin and Mr. Sympson conjectured it should be read. And at the time of writing this, in all probability the author remembered the happy father in Terence. Andria i. i. 69.

Cum id mihi placebat, tum uno ore omnes omnia

Bona dicere, et laudare fortunas

meas,

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365

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359. then giv'n with solemn hand

As graces, draw a scorpion's

tail behind?] He has raised this beautiful imagery on the following text, Luke xi. 12. If a son shall ask of his father an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? He was not always so happy. Warburton.

373. Appoint] That is, ar

Qui natum haberem tali ingenio raign, summon to answer. War

præditum.

VOL. III.

burton.
S

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Sole author I, sole cause: if ought seem 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 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,

380

385

Though offer'd only, by the scent conceiv'd

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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

396

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

400

She sought to make me traitor to myself;

Yet the fourth time, when must'ring all her wiles,
With blandish'd parlies, feminine assaults,

391. treason against me?] By our laws called petty treason. Richardson.

401. She sought] So it is in Milton's own edition; in most of the others She thought.

Tongue-batteries, she surceas'd not day nor night
To storm 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 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.

MANOAH.

I cannot praise thy marriage choices, son,
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

411.-O indignity! O blot &c.] Nothing could give the reader a better idea of a great and heroic spirit in the circumstances of Samson, than this sudden gust of indignation and passionate self-reproach upon the mentioning of his weakness. Besides

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there is something vastly grand and noble in his reflection upon his present condition on this occasion,

These rags, this grinding is not yet so base &c.

Thyer.

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
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 magnified, and God,
Besides whom is no God, compar'd with idols,
Disglorified, 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,
Of all reproach the most with shame that ever
Could have befall'n thee and thy father's house.

SAMSON.

Father, I do acknowledge and confess

That I this honour, I this pomp have brought
To Dagon, and advanc'd his praises high

434. This day the Philistines a popular feast &c.] Judg. xvi. 23. Then the lords of the Philistines gathered them together, for to offer a great sacrifice unto Dagon their God, and to rejoice; for they said, Our God hath delivered Samson our enemy into our hand, &c. This incident the poet hath finely

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improved, and with great judgment he hath put this reproach of Samson into the mouth of the father, rather than any other of the dramatis personæ.

449. -pomp] Public procession, &c. See note, Par. Lost, viii. 60. and below, ver. 1312. E.

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