Now Samson issued from the tribe of Dan,
And by his sire Manoah, a righteous man,
Was loved, ere born, by heavenly prediction;
For unto him the Angel of the Lord
Appeared, and with the waving of a sword
Had banished from his tent all doubts' affliction.

And Samson thrived amid his father's herds,
Alone with them and the wild forest birds,
And he waxed strong, from merry wine abstaining,
Obedient to his Nazaritish vow;
For the Lord's benediction on his brow
In ways propitious was beheld remaining.

And it so happened that no warrior then,
No valorous leader of a thousand men,
Ever by taunt or daring tone incensed him;
But once, while dreaming of his untried strength,
Stretching his knotted arms their massive length,
A young impetuous lion roared against him.

Then, lo! the spirit of the living Lord
Aroused him from the green snare of the sward,
And lightning-like came mightily upon him,
And towering, with resistless power he rent
The clamorous beast asunder by his tent,
As though he were a reed, and trampled on him!

And it so happened and so came to pass,
He seized the ponderous jaw-bone of an ass,
When by Philistine hosts environed densely,
And with the thunder of his battle-cry,
Did smite the sudden assailants hip and thigh,
Until the ground with death was dark intensely.

Now, by such deeds of valor and renown,
Samson was feared in the Philistine town,
Where he in haughty unconcern would wander,
Pacing with chosen paranymphs the street,
And with the fairest woman he chanced to meet
Would sup and lavishly his manch squander.

For Samson, while he brooded in dull ease,
Was strongly moved by passion's mysteries;
His virgin heart craved sympathies unnumbered,
And the imperious, devastating flame
Of great desires held their allegiant frame,
Or in his rebel sinews lightly slumbered.

Now there dwelt within the Sorek vale
A harlot named Delilah, lithe and pale,
With starry eyes and silver-studded tresses,
Who, dyed with herbs, paced the broad, peopled ways,
Dancing, or singing Midianitish lays,
Selling the fever of her warm caresses.

And she had longed for one enamored hour
With Samson, radiant in his nubile power;
Languished and dreamed to win him and inspire
His bones with palpitations of delight,
And through the dreamy silences of night
To fill his veins with all-consuming fire!

But he had spurned her beauty in its bloom
For rosy Tinnah, in the woodland's gloom,
Ay, on her lighted threshold had he scorned her;
Ay! though the spice and perfume of the east
Her supple, naked loveliness increased;
Ay! though her pearls and amulets adorned her.

And dull hate for the spurner moved her breast;
His calm indifference, cruelly expressed,
Turned to foul gall her wakening senses maddened,
And to draw harm's disaster on his head,
To cause him pain, or see his valor dead,
Her proud, vindictive spirit would have gladdened.

Now, once it happened at patrician feast,
When mirth in ways unhallowed increased,
Delilah, on the strong man's cushion seated,
Drugged the spiced food, and Samson, love-entranced,
Upon the charms he had forsaken glanced,
Laughed in his beard, and wooed her, and entreated.

Therefore unto her home she lured him, where
Wrapt in the perfumed mantle of her hair,
He lay in languid love's divine prostration,
Moved to his mighty soul by love's excess
And all the roses of her loveliness,
Kissing her eyes in silent adoration.

But while in troubled ravishment he slept,
The alert Philistine haters near him crept,
With glittering bribes down laden, to discover
The mystery that filled their souls with awe,
And by her lecherous sorcery to draw
The dreaded secret from her dreamy lover.

But, flushed by soft excesses and her hate,
Nude and disheveled, then she bade them wait,
With promises, until the hour propitious,
And with the silver pieces given, returned
Where Samson lingered, and in revery burned,
To taste again her shameless kiss delicious.

And, lo! it happened that her Samson came,
Proud neophyte of love, once more to claim
Of her embraces the delicious honey,
And with him, in youth's exaltation, brought
Tunics and veils by skillful fingers wrought,
Brilliant with gems and burdened with much money.

And she said to him: " Tell me, little sun,
Sweet, sun-like Samson, pray what might be done
To tame thy lion strength, oh, radiant giant?
Tell me, I beg of thee! " And he did speak:
" Bind me with withes, and then shall I be weak,
Ay, like a lamb, most pitiful and pliant. "

So when he slept, she bound him, and she called
Unto her cringing acolytes appalled:
" Behold! the man is bound and slaved by slumbers. "
But, as they crept upon him, he arose,
Shook off the shackle of sleep and with sharp blows
Fell on them there and slew them in great numbers.

And pale Delilah in her anger cried:
" Behold! thou much hast mocked me and hast lied!
Tell me then freest truth that I may cherish! "
And Samson said: " Oh, summer of my hopes,
If I be bounden with unsullied ropes,
Then will my boasted valor wane and perish. "

Again on her exultant breast he slept;
Again the eager chieftains toward him crept;
By dire distrust and coward fancies shaken,
Seeing him helpless in his dormant pride,
While with alarming voice, Delilah cried:
" Philistines are upon thee, Samson! Waken! "

And he leapt forth in wonderment and wrath,
Sweeping through shields a desolating path,
Cleaving the serried ranks like flax asunder,
And o'er the clashing armor of his foes,
Above the slaughter and the fury, rose
His clarion voice, defiant, like a thunder!

But hate had made Delilah's spirit strong,
And with her jests she lashed as with a thong
His patience, till he cried in indignation:
" If I should lose my flowing locks, ah! then
Indeed shall I be like all other men,
Of equal might in strength and emulation! "

Then multitudes of angered warriors came
To seize the hostage of Delilah's shame,
For with sly cunning she had caught and taken
The rough and tangled forest of his hair,
And Samson, all unmanned, lay pinioned there.
And was by the Almighty Lord forsaken.

Nerveless and mute with grief, they dragged their prize
Up to the town, and burned his haughty eyes,
Proud of his sullen, utter desolation,
Laughing to see the phantom of their dread
Unto the prison by a stripling led,
Glad of his woe and hideous hesitation.

The angry populace clamored for his life,
And many a javelin and glittering knife
Flashed danger in the phalanxes around him,
But he was doomed to be the people's slave,
Unworthy of the solace of a grave,
And with huge fetters of strong brass they bound him.

Now, as the days in slow procession passed,
His mutilated locks grew long at last,
And with them dawned again his virile splendor,
And, in unspeakable distress he prayed
Unto Jehovah for celestial aid
To smite the intolerant pride of his offender.

And it so happened that Philistine hordes
Gathered together full a thousand swords
To offer savory sacrifice to Dagon,
A hideous image, a bejeweled clod,
Who of their sinful destinies was god,
And who was worshiped by the rabble pagan.

And loud within his temple did they come,
Rejoicing with the timbrel and the drum,
While minnims and melodious sabecs quivered,
Praising the high, commandant god whose power
Had saved the nation in its sorest hour,
And who to them had such a foe delivered.

And when their hearts were gladdened by strong wine,
They bade Delilah with a haughty sign
Seek shackled Samson, in his prison stricken,
And by his monstrous helplessness to make
Exciting sport of him for Dagon's sake,
And with derisive jibes their pleasures quicken.

So she, Delilah, servant unto this,
Came unto Samson with a traitress kiss,
And of their sovereign commandment told him;
Thus, once again, leading the cruel way,
Her irritating arm upon him lay,
Ay, one spell more did her soft arms enfold him.

And he spoke to her: " Oh, Delilah, sweet!
I pray thee linger at my weary feet:
Remember my past love and have this pity. "
And, as he murmured, crushed by his despair,
Exultant laughter shook the perfumed air,
Re-echoing at the gates and in the city.

And he was placed, with curses and hard blows,
Between two mighty pillars that arose
High to the domes, and false Delilah near him
Agged his distress with languid serpent words,
While the wine-laden lords in boisterous herds
Taunted his weaknesses and failed to fear him.

Then Samson, in a tumult of despair,
Bent low his brows in majesty of prayer,
And called unto the Lord in his prostration:
" Great God sublime, who madest the green earth,
Whose will omnipotent hath given me birth,
Eternal God of infinite creation!

" Remember me, I pray, oh Holy One!
Forgive, forget the wrongs my hands have done!
Strengthen this faltering arm that would obey Thee!
Strengthen this wretched clay that worships Thee!
Strengthen my soul that hungers to be free!
Receive it, oh omniscient God! I pray Thee! "

Then he arose and, comforted, he cried:
" Delilah oh Delilah! thou hast lied;
Thou, of this hated race the boldest harlot!
It was thy kiss that lured me to this doom,
It was thy flower-breath that hath made my tomb,
Ay, 'twas thy beauty robed in vexing scarlet!

" 'Twas thy gold flood of tresses steeped in spice,
Thy lying lips, thy warm breasts that entice,
That led me from the solitude I cherish.
Thou, thou alone, with thy god-tempting face,
Hast brought me to disaster and disgrace!
Pray now ! pray, pray, even now , for thou shalt perish! "

And then he bowed himself with all his might
Between the mammoth pillars, and the sight
Filled with fast fear the thousand there assembled.
" Receive my soul, oh God! " he loudly cried,
While the vast temple cracked from side to side,
And the great dome with ominous thunder trembled.

Then down from dizzy height the ponderous weight
Fell on the doomed Philistines of his hate;
Fell on the men whom God to him delivered,
And in the gloom, the horror and dismay,
Crushed by his side the false Delilah lay,
While at her bleeding throat his hand still quivered!