How we cite our quotes: (Line number)
Quote #1
SAMSON: Ask for this great Deliverer now, and find him eyeless in Gaza at the Mill with slaves, himself in bonds under Philistine yoke (40-42)
We have to admit that this does sound like quiet the downgrade. This is like going from the quarterback of the all-star high school football team to making license plates in an Alabama prison.
Quote #2
CHORUS: O change beyond report, thought, or belief! (118)
Changed beyond thought? Ouch. Bet Samson isn't going to show up to his 10-year reunion.
Quote #3
MANOA: O miserable change! is this the man, the invincible Samson, far renown'd, the dread of Israel's foes... (340-343)
Echoing the Chorus, even Samson's own dad can't get over Samson's alteration. And this is the guy who changed his diapers! Double ouch.
Quote #4
SAMSON: Now blind, disheartn'd, sham'd dishonor'd, quell'd, to what can I be useful, wherein serve my nation? (564-565)
Samson used to be The Hope for his people... that's a hard act to follow. Or sustain. Just ask this guy.
Quote #5
CHORUS: Toward these thus dignifi'd, thou [God] oft amidst thir higheth of noon, changest thy countenance and thy hand with no regard of highest favors past (683-685)
It isn't just Samson who has changed; God seems to change his mind a lot too. But how is that possible? Can God be God if he changes his mind?
Quote #6
CHORUS: She's [Dalila's] gone, a manifest Serpent by her sting discovr'd in the end, til now concel'd (998-999)
It might seem like Dalila's changed, but she hasn't. She's always been a serpent—just good at hiding it.
Quote #7
SAMSON: Fair days have oft contracted wind and rain (1063)
Life can change at any moment... just like the weather. Too bad they don't have sophisticated modern forecasting technology.
Quote #8
SAMSON: Be of good courage, I begin to feel some rouzing motions in me which dispose to something extraordinary my thoughts (1381-1383)
Probably one of the least dramatic descriptions of a very dramatic change in all of English literature. Dramatic.
Quote #9
MANOA: The worst indeed, O all my hope's defeated to free [Samson] hence! but death who sets all free hath paid his ransom now and full discharge (1571-1572)
Here's another, sadder, realization of how quickly, and drastically, life can change: Samson was two seconds away from walking out the door, and now he's dead. (And so is the door.)
Quote #10
CHORUS: Oft [God] seems to hide his face, but unexpectedly returns and to his faithful Champion hath in place bore witness gloriously (1749-1753)
So maybe, in the end, things have changed even less than we thought. Samson is a hero again, just like he used to be; God is back and better than ever. All right! Well, except Samson's dead—so, thanks for nothing, God?