How we cite our quotes: (Line number)
Quote #1
SAMSON: I seek this unfrequented place to find some ease, ease to the body some, none to the mind from restless thoughts, that like a deadly swarm of hornets arm'd, no sooner found alone, but rush upon me thronging (15-20)
Talk about suffering! The very thing that makes Samson's body comfortable makes his mind suffer more. Poor guy just can't get a break.
Quote #2
SAMSON: Suffice that to me strength is my bane, and proves the source of all my miseries; so many and so huge, that each apart would ask a life to wail (64-67)
This almost makes "suffering" sound like an understatement. Samson is saying that it would take him lifetimes to complain properly about his life—but, little does he know, he actually only has a few more hours.
Quote #3
SAMSON: O loss of sight, of thee I most complain! Blind among enemies, O worse than chains, Dungeon, or beggery, or decrepit age! (68-69).
According to Samson, blindness doesn't have any competition for Worst Suffering EVAR. And you can kind of see why, since he implicitly compares it to all the other kinds of suffering: it's like a prison he always carries; he has to ask for everything; it makes him weaker than an old man. (Maybe he should get one of these things.)
Quote #4
CHORUS: Which shall I first bewail, thy bondage or lost sight...? (152)
Gee, thanks, Chorus. They're so bummed out by Samson's condition that they can't even decide which horrible thing to start with. We bet this is really cheering Samson up.
Quote #5
CHORUS: Deject not then so overmuch thy self, who hast of sorrow thy full load besides (213-214).
Suffering is definitely becoming a vicious cycle here: the more Samson pities himself, the worse he feels. We're getting the feeling that something dramatic is going to happen.
Quote #6
SAMSON: O that torment should not be confin'd to the bodies wounds and sores with maladies innumerable... but must secret passage find to th' inmost mind (606-611)
Samson's torment sounds even worse when he gives it the qualities of a sneaky person. It's like a little gnome that worms itself into his brain. Actually, that sounds like a pretty accurate description of depression.
Quote #7
SAMSON: Thoughts my Tormentors arm'd with deadly stings mangle my apprehensive tenderest parts (624-625)
Samson comes up with another way of personifying his suffering: now it's not a spy, it's an actual armed enemy. Either way, it's attacking an essential, important part of himself.
Quote #8
DALILA: If aught in my ability may serve to light'n what thou suffer'st and appease thy mind with what ammends is in my power (744-746)
Dalila might be the only character who actually asks Samson how she can help him. Isn't that weird? Is this just another feminine trick, or is there some part of Dalila that really loves Samson and regrets her actions?
Quote #9
SAMSON: Can [the Philistine lords] think me so broken, so debas'd with corporal servitude, that my mind ever will condescend to such absurd commands? (1335-1338).
Samson may be suffering, but it's not enough to make him give in. We're kind of wondering if there's anything that would break Samson—and we're thinking not. He may be weak, but he looks pretty strong to us.
Quote #10
CHORUS: Noise call you it or universal groan as if the whole inhabitation perished, blood, death, and deathful deeds are in that noise, ruin, destruction at the utmost point (1511-1514)
We've spent most of the poem hearing about Samson's suffering, but this description of the suffering of those Samson killed is pretty haunting. Are we supposed to feel sorry for them? Or are we supposed to be feeling pretty good about all this destruction?