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Angiola, who is not fatally wounded, recovers consciousness, and is folded in her husbands arms.
141. SAMSON AND DALILA
Grand Opera in Three Acts By Camille Saint-Saens
Libretto By Ferdinand Lemaire
First Produced Weimar, December, i877
Chief Characters Dalila, Samson, The High Priest of Dagon, Abimelech (Satrap of Gaza)
THE subject-matter of this opera is founded on the Biblical narrative, but the love passages and
dramatic incidents predominate.
In Act 1 we are introduced to Samson, the mighty warrior-hero of Israel, who is cheering the
drooping spirits of his people by inciting them to make a bold attempt to shake off the galling
Philistine yoke. Abimelech, Satrap of Gaza, insults and jeers at the down-trodden people, upon
which Samson, furious at the blasphemous epithets thus uttered by the heathen intruder at the God
of Israel, calls his companions to avenge the insult, and himself slays the Satrap, the scene ending
with an attack upon the Philistine soldiers by the Israelites, who gain the victory. As Samson
comes forward as the conquering hero, he is greeted with acclamations; and amongst the
welcoming crowd is the lovely Philistine enchantress, Dalila, who heads a procession of dancing
maidens outside the temple of Dagon. She also has a smiling welcome for Samson; but her fair
front is not sincere, for she is full of resentment against the Israelite hero, who has been her lover
once, and whom she had loved until This conscience had forced him to desert her. She therefore
determines to cast her spells of fascination over him again, and to bring him to ruin thus; and in
Act 2 she has an interview with the High Priest of Dagon, whom she promises that she will win
from Samson the secret of his marvellous strength, and by her seductions will deliver him into the
hands of the Philistines. When Samson presently appears, therefore, she approaches him, adorned
in her richest attire and sparkling with jewels; and by her seductive wiles and tender speeches she
entices him to her side once more. As the scene closes, Samson, intoxicated with love, and
powerless to resist her tender appeals to his passionate nature, yields, and follows her into her
dwelling-place. Here his ruin and degradation are soon consummated; for Dalila, coaxing from
him the secret of his strength, loses no time in betraying him to the Philistine lords.
In Act 3, therefore, he is found in the abject condition of a slave - a captive, blinded, and shorn of
his long locks and mighty strength, forced to grind at the mill; and from this servile task he is
taken out to the Temple of Dagon. Here we find him in the last scene, propped up against the
pillars of the temple, forced to submit to the gibes and taunts of his enemies. Dalila, herself, joins
in the mocking chorus, rejoicing in the revenge she has achieved. Samson, however, seeks
renewed strength the pillars of the temple, forced to submit to the gibes manded by the High Priest
to offer sacrifice to Dagon he proudly refuses, but, reaching out his arms, grasps the pillars of the
temple, which he lifts in one last mighty effort, and thus brings down the building in ruins upon
himself and his enemies.
142. MOLOCH