Page:The Complete Poetical Works of John Milton.djvu/327

 SAMSON AGONISTES

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��nect itself very intimately with the shifting mood of the protagonist, to develop his thought or reflect passingly upon his state, without forfeiting, even in the shortest pas- sages, the lyric element. It is worthy of note that Milton follows Sophocles rather than his favorite Euripides in making the Chorus cling closely to the thought and emotion of the play itself, instead of allow- ing it to wander away into philosophic gen- eralizations only remotely suggested by the action in hand. Occasionally, to be sure, it does so escape, and these rare breakings-away have the effect of wonder- fully calming and chastening the crude passion of the piece, throwing the particu- lar tragedy of the moment back into an ideal remoteness where its meaning can be seen pure, untroubled by passing emotion. It will be noticed, however, that these pas- sages occur chiefly after Samson has left the stage, while, according to the classical precedent, the climax is taking place at a distance, or after news of the hero's death has been brought. The effect aimed at is obviously that of calming the spectator, that the play may close in an atmosphere not only purged by pity and terror, but also calmed and sweetened by abstract meditation. The use of the Messenger to announce the catastrophe is of course an indispensable part of the classic apparatus; it is in the passage devoted to him that Milton has caught, perhaps more com- pletely than anywhere else, the very form and pressure of Sophoclean dialogue. Di- vision into acts and scenes Milton omits, as " referring chiefly to the stage, for which this work never was intended;" but the fact that he adds, " It suffices if the whole drama be found not produced beyond the fifth act" shows that he did not neglect the requirements of such division. A brief analysis will make the act-and-scene struc- ture of the drama clear, and will throw light also on the question of its unity of action.

The opening speech of Samson, as he is

��led from his prison to spend in the open air the few hours of rest which the super- stition of his enemies allows him on the feast-day of their god, establishes at once the key of sombre dejection. The very first line makes us realize his pathetic help- lessness, and the sense of hopelessness, of tcedium vitce, grows to its culmination in the famous lines :

" O dark, dark, dark, amid the blaze of noon, Irrecoverdbly dark, total eclipse, Without all hope of day ! "

His helplessness under indignity is empha- sized by the fact that he mistakes the ap- proaching Chorus for a rabble of his ene- mies, come to stare at and insult him ; and the chanting of the Chorus, where pity for his present state is mingled with celebra- tion of his youthful deeds of pride and might, deepens the tragic force of the pic- ture. Samson's second speech introduces the spiritual side of his misery, remorse for his sin of weakness. The rest of Act I. is taken up with the past history of the hero. The elements of his character which it impresses upon us are : his wilfulness and amorous weakness ; his exultant pride of strength ; and his sense of consecration to the task of delivering Israel. This act ends with Manoa's entrance at line 331.

The sight of his son's wretchedness wrings from Manoa, as he enters, a horri- fied exclamation, " O miserable change ! " which intensifies the effect of pity already produced. The old man's querulous ques- tioning of God's dealings with His anointed champion brings out a new side of Samson's character ; for we see that he accepts his suffering nobly, as a just punishment for sin. It is a master-stroke of artistic har- mony that accomplishes this without dis- turbing for a moment the atmosphere of sullen gloom surrounding him. At the same time, occasion is given for a detailed account of his weakness in giving up his secret to Dal i la. Upon this ensues the first of those " provocative " elements, calcu- lated to arouse Samson little by little to the

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