[Enter MANOAH.]

Man. Peace with you, brethren; my inducement hither

Was not at present here to find my son,
By order of the lords now parted hence
To come and play before them at their feast.
I heard all as I came, the city rings,

And numbers thither flock: I had no will,

Lest I should see him forc'd to things unseemly.
But that, which mov'd my coming now, was chiefly
To give ye part with me what hope I have
With good success to work his liberty.

Chor. That hope would much rejoice us to partake
With thee; say, reverend sire, we thirst to hear.
Man. I have attempted one by one the lords
Either at home, or through the high street passing,
With supplication prone and father's tears,
To accept of ransom for my son their prisoner.
Some much averse I found and wondrous harsh,
Contemptuous, proud, set on revenge and spite;
That part most reverenc'd Dagon and his priests:
Others more moderate seeming, but their aim
Private reward, for which both God and state
They easily would set to sale: a third
More generous far and civil, who confess'd
They had enough reveng'd; having reduc'd
Their foe to misery beneath their fears,
The rest was magnanimity to remit,
If some convenient ransom were propos'd.
What noise or shout was that? it tore the sky.

Chor. Doubtless the people shouting to behold

Their once great dread, captive, and blind before

them,

Or at some proof of strength before them shown.
Man. His ransom, if my whole inheritance
May compass it, shall willingly be paid

And number'd down: much rather I shall choose
To live the poorest in my tribe, than richest,
And he in that calamitous prison left.

No, I am fix'd not to part hence without him.
For his redemption all my patrimony,

If need be, I am ready to forego

And quit: not wanting him, I shall want nothing
Chor. Fathers are wont to lay up for their sons,
Thou for thy son art bent to lay out all;
Sons wont to nurse their parents in old age,
Thou in old age car'st how to nurse thy son,
Made older than thy age through eye-sight lost.
Man. It shall be my delight to tend his eyes,
And view him sitting in the house, ennobled
With all those high exploits by him achiev'd,
And on his shoulders waving down those locks
That of a nation arm'd the strength contain❜d:
And I persuade me, God had not permitted
His strength again to grow up with his hair,
Garrison'd round about him like a camp
Of faithful soldiery, were not his purpose
To use him further yet in some great service;
Not to sit idle with so great a gift

Useless, and thence ridiculous about him.

And since his strength with eye-sight was not lost, God will restore him eye-sight to his strength. [vain Chor Thy hopes are not ill-founded, nor seem

Of his delivery, and the joy thereon
Conceiv'd, agreeable to a father's love,

In both which we, as next, participate. [noise!
Man. I know your friendly minds and— O what
Mercy of Heaven, what hideous noise was that
Horribly loud, unlike the former shout.

Chor. Noise call you it, or universal groan, As if the whole inhabitation perish'd!

Blood, death, and deathful deeds, are in that noise, Ruin, destruction at the utmost point.

Man. Of ruin indeed methought I heard the noise: Oh! it continues, they have slain my son.

Chor. Thy son is rather slaying them: that outcry From slaughter of one foe could not ascend.

Man. Some dismal accident it needs must be ; What shall we do, stay here or run and see? Chor. Best keep together here, lest, running thither,

We unawares run into danger's mouth.

This evil on the Philistines is fall'n :

From whom could else a general cry be heard?
The sufferers then will scarce molest us here;
From other hands we need not much to fear.
What if, his eye-sight (for to Israel's God
Nothing is hard) by miracle restor❜d,

He now be dealing dole among his foes,

And over heaps of slaughter'd walk his way?

Man. That were a joy presumptuous to be thought. Chor. Yet God hath wrought things as incredible For his people of old; what hinders now?

Man. He can, I know, but doubt to think he will, Yet hope would fain subscribe, and tempts belief. A little stay will bring some notice hither.

Chor. Of good or bad so great, of bad the sooner; For evil news rides post, while good news bates. And to our wish I see one hither speeding, An Hebrew as I guess, and of our tribe.

Enter MESSENGER.]

Mess. O whither shall I run, or which way fly
The sight of this so horrid spectacle,

Which erst my eyes beheld, and yet behold?
For dire imagination still pursues me,

But providence or instinct of nature seems,
Or reason though disturb'd, and scarce consulted,
To have guided me aright, I know not how,
To thee first, reverend Manoah, and to these
My countrymen, whom here I knew remaining,
As at some distance from the place of horrour,
So in the sad event too much concern'd.

[thee
Man. The accident was loud, and here before
With rueful cry, yet what it was we hear not;
No preface needs, thou seest we long to know.
Mess. It would burst forth, but I recover breath
And sense distract, to know well what I utter.
Man. Tell us the sum, the circumstance defer.
Mess. Gaza yet stands, but all her sons are fall'n,
All in a moment overwhelm'd and fall'n. [saddest
Man. Sad, but thou know'st to Israelites not
The desolation of a hostile city.

[surfeit Mess. Feed on that first: there may in grief be Man. Relate by whom.

Mess.

Man.

By Samson.

That still lessens

The sorrow, and converts it nigh to joy.

dead.

[out.

Mess. Ah! Manoah, I refrain too suddenly To utter what will come at last too soon; Lest evil tidings with too rude irruption Hitting thy aged ear should pierce too deep. Man. Suspense in news is torture, speak them Mess. Take then the worst in brief, Samson is [feated Man. The worst indeed, O all my hopes deTo free him hence! but death, who sets all free, Hath paid his ransom now and full discharge. What windy joy this day had I conceiv'd Hopeful of his delivery, which now proves Abortive as the first-born bloom of spring Nipt with the lagging rear of winter's frost! Yet ere I give the reins to grief, say first, How died he; death to life is crown or shame. All by him fell, thou say'st: by whom fell he? What glorious hand gave Samson his death's wound? Mess. Unwounded of his enemies he fell. [plain. Man. Wearied with slaughter then, or how? exMess. By his own hands.

Man.

Self-violence? what cause Brought him so soon at variance with himself Among his foes?

Mess.

Inevitable cause

At once both to destroy, and be destroy'd;
The edifice, where all were met to see him,
Upon their heads and on his own he pull'd.

Man. O lastly over-strong against thyself'
A dreadful way thou took'st to thy revenge.
More than enough we know; but while things yet
Are in confusion, give us, if thou canst,