“Samson et Dalila” – Act 3

Act Three

Tableau One

The prison house of Gaza

Scene One

(Samson, in fetters, blind, his head shorn, is turning the millstone. In the wings, chorus of Hebrew prisoners.)

Samson See my misery, alas! See my distress! Take pity, Lord, on my weakness! My feet have strayed from thy path! Soon thou didst withdraw thy hand from me. O God, to thee I offer my poor broken spirit. I am nothing but an object of derision. They have taken away from me the light of the sky, they have filled me with bitterness and gall. Hebrews Samson, what have you done with your brothers? Samson, what have you done with the God of your fathers? Samson Alas! Israel in bondage, from heaven drawing down vengeance, has lost even hope through all the evils she has suffered. May our tribes find grace in thy sight! Deign to spare thy people their suffering! Abate thine anger before their ills, Lord, thou who art never lacking in mercy!

Hebrews God entrusted us to your arm to lead us in battle. Samson! What have you done with your brothers? Samson! What have you done with your brothers? What have you done with the God of your fathers? Samson Brothers! Your lamentation reaching me in my dark night, with mortal anguish floods my guilty, wretched heart. God! Take my life as a sacrifice to assuage thine anger! Hebrews For a woman he sold us... Samson From Israel... Hebrews For a woman he sold us... Samson ...turn away thy blows. Hebrews ...to pay for Delilah’s favours. Samson ...and I proclaim thy justice! Hebrews Son of Manoah, what have you done with our blood and our tears? Samson At thy feet, broken but contrite, I bless the hand that chastises me. Bring it to pass, Lord, that thy people escape the fury of their enemies! Hebrews Samson! What have you done with your brothers? What have you done with the God of your fathers? (The Philistines enter the prison house and drag Samson away.)

Tableau Two

Scene Two

Inside the temple of Dagon. A statue of the god. The sacrificial table. In the middle of the sanctuary, two marble columns appear to support the building. (The High Priest of Dagon is surrounded by Philistine princes. Delilah is followed by young Philistine women, crowned with flowers and carrying cups. A crowd fills the temple. Day is breaking.)

Philistines Dawn, already whitening the hillsides, extinguishes the torches of this beautiful night; let us prolong our revels, and despite the dawn, play on at love! Love lends our hearts forgetfulness of our ills. In the morning breeze night’s shadow like a light veil drifts to the horizon. The east reddens, and over the mountains the sun gleams, shedding its rays on earth’s bosom. Bacchanalia

Scene Three

(Enter Samson, led by the boy.) High Priest Hail! Hail to the Judge of Israel, who comes to enliven our festival with his presence! Delilah, see to it that a cup be made ready! Offer mead to your lover! He will empty his goblet in praise of his mistress and her seductive power! Philistines Samson! Samson! We drink with you! Samson! Samson! To Delilah your queen! Drain the cup fearlessly! Intoxication dispels pain. Samson (aside) Sick unto death in my soul, before thee, Lord, I bow; through thy divine will, let my destiny now be fulfilled!

Delilah (approaching Samson, cup in hand) Let me take your hand and show you the way, as I did in the dark lane leading to the valley on that day when, following me, you took me in your arms! You clambered up the mountains to come to me, I deserted my companions to be alone with you. Think back on our raptures! Think back on my caresses! Love served my purpose; to gratify my vengeance I tore from you your secret: I had already sold it. You believed in that love: it was this that riveted your chain. Delilah avenges today her god, her people, and her hatred. Philistines Delilah avenges today her god, her people, and her hatred. Samson When you spoke, I was deaf; and in the turmoil of my heart, alas! I defiled love in giving it to this woman. High Priest Come, Samson, make sport for us, by recounting to your lover the honeyed words, the sweet songs by which passion is sustained! Let Jehovah, taking pity, give you back your sight! I will serve this mighty god if he can answer your prayer! But, since he cannot help you, this god whom you call Father, I can afford to scoff at him, to show my hatred, by laughing at his wrath! Samson O God of Israel, thou allowest this impostor priest, in his fury and rage, to outrage thy name before heaven! If only I could avenge thy glory, and by a mighty miracle recover for one brief moment my sight, my strength, and victory!

Philistines (laughing) Ha! ha! ha! Ha! ha! ha! etc. We laugh at his fury! You cannot frighten us! In your impotent rage, Samson, you cannot see a thing! Pick your steps carefully! Samson! Samson! You cannot see a thing, etc. His anger is ludicrous! Ha! ha! ha! etc. High Priest Come, Delilah, to do homage to our gods who set Jehovah quaking in the skies! From the great Dagon let us consult the omens! Let us pour out for him the sacrificial wine!

(Delilah and the High Priest make their way towards the sacrificial table, on which the sacred cups stand. A fire burns on the altar, which is decorated with flowers. Delilah and the High Priest take the cups and pour a libation over the sacred fire, which flares up, then dies down, to reappear at the third stanza of the invocation. Samson remains in the middle of the stage, with the boy who guides him beside him; he is overcome with sorrow and appears to pray.)

High Priest and Delilah Glory to Dagon the conqueror! He succoured my weakness, instilling in my heart strength and cunning. O thou, the greatest among all! Thou who madest the earth we inhabit, may thy spirit dwell among us, o master among gods and men! Philistines Let thy blessing fall on our abundant flocks! Ripen the vines on our hillsides! Give back to the fields our harvest that, in his hatred, Samson burned!

Delilah and High Priest Receive on our altars the blood of our victims, offered to thee by mortals in expiation of their sins! Philistines Glory to Dagon! Delilah and High Priest To the eyes of thy holy priests, alone able to look upon thy face, reveal the future which lies hidden from the sight of other men! Philistines Lord, be favourable to our destiny! Let thy justice to the Philistines give glory in battle! Let victory follow in our steps! High Priest Dagon reveals himself! Delilah Dagon reveals himself! High Priest The new flame... Delilah The new flame... High Priest ...on the altar revives from the ashes. Delilah ...on the altar revives from the ashes. Philistines Dagon reveals himself! The new flame on the altar revives from the ashes, on the altar revives from the ashes.

Delilah and High Priest The immortal one is coming down to us. It is the god through his presence displaying his power. Philistines Dagon reveals himself! Delilah Ah! Philistines Dagon reveals himself! Dagon reveals himself! Delilah Ah! High Priest The immortal one is coming down to us. Philistines Ah! Delilah The immortal one... Philistines Ah! Delilah ...is coming down to us. Delilah and High Priest It is the god through his presence displaying his power in this place. Philistines It is the god, etc.

High Priest (to Samson) So that the omens may be favourable, come, Samson, come with us unto Dagon, the mighty god, to offer your cup on bended knees! (to the boy) Lead him towards the middle of the temple so that the people can see him from afar! Samson Lord, inspire thou me, abandon me not! Boy, lead me towards the marble pillars! (The boy leads Samson between the two pillars.) Philistines Dagon reveals himself! The new flame on the altar revives from the ashes. It is the god through his presence displaying his power in this place. Lord, be favourable to our destiny! Let thy justice to the Philistines give glory in battle! Let victory follow in our steps! Before thee Israel’s insolence vanishes, our arms guided by thy spirit, in battle or through thy magic, have vanquished this accursed people... Delilah and High Priest Ah! Philistines ...have vanquished this accursed people who defy thy wrath and thy weapons! Delilah and High Priest Ah! Philistines To our destiny, Lord, be favourable! Let thy justice to the Philistines give glory in battle!

Delilah and High Priest Ah! Delilah, High Priest, Philistines Let victory follow in our steps! Philistines Glory to Dagon! Glory to Dagon! Glory! Glory! Glory! Samson (standing between the two pillars, begins to rock them) Remember thou thy servant from whom they have taken away his sight! Deign for a brief moment, Lord, to give me back my old strength! Let me avenge myself and thee, o God, by destroying them here in this place! (The temple collapses amid a tumult of cries.) Delilah, High Priest, Philistines Ah!

THE END