a full ag'd Lyon who had sought But could not finde his long desired prey Soone as his eye had given him hopes to pay His debt to nature and to mend that fault His empty stomacke found he made assault Vpon th' unarmed lovers brest whose hand Had neither staffe nor weapon to withstand His greedy rage but he whose mighty strength Or sudden death must now appeare at length Stretcht forth his brawny arme his arme supplide With power from heaven and did with ease divide His body limme from limme and did betray His Flesh to foules that lately sought his prey This done his quicke redoubled paces make His stay amends his nimble steps oretake His leading parents who by this discover The smoake of Timnah Now the greedy Lover Thinkes every step a mile and every pace A measur'd League untill he see that face And finde the treasure of his heart that lies In the faire Casket of his Mistresse Eyes But all this while close Samson made not knowne Vnto his parents what his hands had done By this the gate of Timnah entertaines The welcome travellers The parents paines Are now rewarded with their sonnes best pleasure The Virgin comes His eyes can finde no leasure To owne another object O the greeting Th' impatient lovers had at their first meeting The Lover speakes She answers He replies She blushes He demandeth She denyes He pleads affection She doubts Hee sues For nuptiall love She questions Hee renewes His earnest suite Importunes She relents He must have no deniall She consents They passe their mutuall loves Their joyned hands Are equall earnests of the nuptiall bands The parents are agreed All parties pleas'd The day 's set downe the lovers hearts are eas'd Nothing displeases now but the long stay Betwixt th' appointment and the mariage day MEDITAT 8. T Is too severe a censure If the Sonne Take him a wife the mariage fairely done Without consent of parents who perchance Had rais'd his higher price knew where t' advance His better'd fortunes to one hundred more He lives a Fornicator She a Whore Too hard a censure And it seemes to me The parent's most delinquent of the three What if the better minded Son doe aime At worth What if rare vertues doe inflame His rapt affection What if the condition Of an admir'd and dainty disposition Hath won his soule Where as the covetous Father Findes her Gold light and recommends him rather T' an old worne widow whose more weighty purse Is fill'd with gold and with the Orphans curse The sweet exubrance of whose full-mouth'd portion Is but the cursed issue of extortion Whose worth perchance lies onely in her weight Or in the bosome of her great estate What if the Sonne that does not care to buy Abundance at so deare a rate deny The soule-detesting profer of his Father And in his better judgement chooses rather To match with meaner Fortunes and desert I thinke that Mary chose the better part What noble Families that have out growne The best records have quite binoverthrowne By wilfull parents that will either force Their sonnes to match or haunt them with a curse That can adapt their humours to rejoyce And fancy all things but their childrens choice Which makes them often timerous to reveale The close desiers of their hearts and steale Such matches as perchance their faire advice Might in the bud have hindred in a trice Which done and past O then their hastie spirit Can thinke of nothing under Disinherit He must be quite discarded and exilde The furious father must renounce his childe Nor Prayre nor Blessing must he have bereiven Of all Nor must he live nor die forgiven When as the Fathers rashnesse often times Was the first causer of the Childrens crimes Parents be not too cruell Children doe Things oft too deepe for us t' enquire into What father would not siorme if his wild Sonne Should doe the deed that Samson here had done Nor doe I make it an exemplar act Only let parents not be too exact To curse their children or to dispossesse Them of their blessings Heaven may chance to blesse Be not too strict Faire language may recure A fault of youth whilst rougher words obdure SECT 9. ARGVMENT Samson goes downe to celebrate His mariage and his nuptiall feast The Lyon which he slue of late Hath hony in his putrid brest WHen as the long expected time was come Wherein these lingring Lovers should consumme The promis'd mariage and observe therites Pertaining to those festivall delights Samson went downe to Timnah there t' enjoy The sweet possession of his dearest joy But as he past those fruitfull Vineyards where His hands of late acquit him of that feare Wherewith the feirce assaulting Lyon quail'd His yet unpractis'd courage and prevail'd Vpon his life as by that place he past He turn'd aside and borrowed of his hast A little time wherein his eyes might view The Carkas of the Lyon which he flew But when his wandring footsteps had drawne neere The unlamented herse his wandring eare MEDITAT 9. HOw high unutterable how profound Whose depth the line of knowledge cannot sound Are the decrees of the Eternall God! How secret are his wayes and how untrod By mans conceipt so deeply charg'd with doubt How are his Counsells past our finding out O how unscrutable are his designes How deepe and how unsearchable are the Mines Of his abundant Wisedome How obscure Are his eternall Iudgements and how sure Lists he to strike The very Stones shall flie From their unmov'd Foundations and destroy Lists he to punish Things that haue no sense Shall vindicate his Quarrell on th' Offence Lists he to send a plague The winters heate And summers damp shall make his will compleate Lists he to send the Sword Occasion brings New Iealousies betwixt the hearts of Kings Wills he afamine Heaven shall turne to brasse And earth to Iron till it come to passe With stockes and stones and plants and beasts fulfill The secret Counsell of his sacred will Man onely wretched Man is disagreeing To doe that thing for which he hath his being Samson must downe to Timnah In the way Must meete a Lyon whom his hands must slay The Lyo'ns putrid Carkas must enclose A swarme of Bees and from the Bees arose A Riddle and that Riddle must be read And by the reading Choller must be bred And that must bring to passe Gods just designes Vpon the death of the false Philistines Behold the progresse and the royall Gests Of Heavens high vengeance how it never rests Till by appointed courses it fufill The secret pleasure of his sacred will Great Saviour of the world Thou Lambe of Sion That hides our sinnes Thou art that wounded Lyon O in thy dying body we have found A world of hony whence we may propound Such sacred Riddles as shall underneath Our feet subdue the power of Hell and Death Such Misteries as none but he that plough'd With thy sweet Hayfer's able to uncloud Such
thoughts did guide His lips to fairer language thus replide Yee men of Iudah what distrustfull thought Of single Samsons violence hath brought So great a strength as if you meant t' orethrow Some mighty Monarch or surprise a Foe Tour easie errand might as well bin done By two or three or by the lips of one The meanest childe of holy Israels seede Might conquer'd Samson with a bruised reed Alas the boldnesse of your welcome words Need no protection of these staves and Swords Brethren the intention of my comming hither Was not to wrong you or deprive you either Of lives or goods or of your poorest due My selfe is cheaper to my selfe then you My comming is on a more faire designe I come to crush your tyranous foes and mine I come to free your country and recall Your servile shoulders from the slavish thrall Of the proud Philistines and with this hand To make you freemen in your promis'd Land But you are come to binde me and betray Your faith full Champion to those hands that lay Perpetuall burthens on which daily vex Your galled shoulders and your servile necks The wrongs these cursed Philistines have done My simple innocence have quite outrun My easie patience If my arme may right My too much injur'd suffrance and requite What they have done to me it would appease My raging thoughts and give my tortures ease But ye are come to binde me I submit I yeeld And if my bondage will acquit Your new borne feares T is well But they that doe Attempt to ruine me will ransack you First you shall firmely ' engage your plighted troth By the acceptance of a sacred oath That when I shall be prisoner to your bands I may not suffer violence by your hands With that they drawing nearer to him laid Their hands beneath his brawny thigh and said Then let the God of Iacob cease to blesse The tribe of Iudah with a faire successe In ought they put their cursed hand unto And raze their seed If we attempt to doe Bound Samson violence And if this curse Be not sufficient heaven contrive a worse With that the willing prisoner join'd his hands To be subjected to their stronger bands With treble twisted cords that never tried The twitch of strength their buisie fingers tied His sinewy wrists which being often wound About his beating pulse they brought him bound To the forefront of the Philistian band And left him captive in their cursed hand MEDITAT 17. O What a Pearle is hidden in this Field Whose orient luster and perfections yeeld So great a treasure that the Easterne Kings With all the wealth their colder Climate brings Nere saw the like It is a pearle whose glory Is the diviner subject of a Story Penn'd by an Angells quill not understood By the too dull con ceitof flesh and blood Vnkinde Iudeans what have you presented Before our eyes O what have you attented He that was borne on purpose to release His life for yours to bring your Nation peace To turne your mournings into joyfull Songs To fight your Battells To revenge your wrongs Even him alas your cursed hands have made This day your prisoner Him have you betraid To death O hee whose sinowy arme had power To crush you all to nothing and to shower Down strokes like thunderbolts whose blasting breath Might in a moment pufft you all to death And made ye fall before his frowning brow See how he goes away betraid by you Thou great Redeemer of the world Whose blood Hath power to save more worlds then Noah's flood Destroyed bodies thou O thou that art The Samson of our soules How can the heart Of man give thanks enough that does not know How much his death-redeemed soule does owe To thy deare merits We can apprehend No more then flesh and blood does recommend To our confined thoughts Alas we can Conceive thy love but as the love of man We cannot tell the horror of that paine Thou bought us from not can our hearts attaine Those joyes that thou hast purchas'd in our name Nor yet the price thou paidst Our thoughts are lame And craz'd Alas things mortall have no might No meanes to comprehend an Infinite We can behold thee cradled in a Manger In a poore Stable We can see the danger The Tetrarch's fury made thee subject to We can conceive thy poverty We know Thy blessed hands that might bin freed were bound We know alas thy bleeding browes were crown'd With prickling thorne Thy body torne with whips Thy palmes impeirc'd with ragged nailes Thy lips Saluted with a Traitors kisse Thy browes Sweating forth blood Thy oftrepeated blowes Thy fastning to the crosse Thy shamefull death These outward tortures all come underneath Our dull conceits But what thy blessed soule That bore the burthen of our guilt and Scroule Of all our sinns and horrid paines of Hell O what that soule endur'd what soule can tell SECT 18. ARGVMENT He breakes their bands And with a Bone A thousand Philistians he slue He thirsted fainted made his mone To heaven He drinkes His spirits renew THus when the glad Philistians had obtain'd The summe of all their hopes they entertain'd The welcome pris'ner with a greater noise Of triumph then the greatnesse of their joyes Required Some with sudden death would greet The new come Guest whil'st others more discreet With lingring paines and tortures more exact Would force him to discover in the Fact Who his Abettors were others gainsaid That course for feare a rescue may be made Some cry T is fittest that th' offender bleed There where his cursed hands had done the deed Others cryed No where Fortune hath consign'd him Wee'lk H him Best to kill him where we finde him Thus variously they spent their doubtfull breath At last they all agreed on sudden death There 's no contention now but onely who Shall strike the first or give the speeding blow Have yee beheld a single thred of flax Touch'd by the fier how the fier crackes With ease and parts the slender twine in sunder Even so as the first arme began to thunder Vpon the Prisners life he burst the bands From his strong wrists and freed his loosned hands Hee stoop'd from off the blood-expecting grasse He snatcht the crooked jaw-bone of an Asse Wherewith his fury dealt such downe-right blowes So oft redoubled that it overthrowes Man after man And being ring'd about With the distracted and amazed rout Of rude Philistians turn'd his body round And in a circle dings them to the ground Each blow had proofe for where the jaw-bone mist The furious Champion wounded with his fist Betwixt them both his fury did uncase A thousand soules which in that fatall place Had left their ruin'd carkeises to feast The slesh-devouring fowle and rav'nous beast With that the Conquerour that now had fed And surfeited his eye upon the dead His hand had slaine sate downe and having flung His purple weapon by triumpht and sung SAmson rejoyce Be fill'd
To give a satisfaction answerable To her unbounded wishes leaves a thrist Of reenjoyment greater then the first Lord When our fruitlesse fallowes are growne cold And out of heart we can inrich the mould With a new heate we can restore againe Her weakned soile and make it apt for graine And wilt thou suffer our faint soules to lie Thus unmanur'd that is thy Husbandrie They beare no other bulke but idle weedes Alas they have no heart no heate Thy seedes Are cast away untill thou please t' inspire New strength and quench them with thy sacred fire Stirre thou my Fallowes and enrich my mold And they shall bring thee ' increase a hundred fold SECT 21. ARGVMENT False Delila accosts her Lover Her lips endeavour to entice His gentle nature to discover His strength Samson deceives her thrice SOone as occasion lent our Champions eare To Delila which could not choose but heare If Delila but whisper'd she whose wiles Were neatly baited with her simple smiles Accosted Samson Her alluring hand Sometimes would stroke his Temples sometime span'd His brawny arme Sometimes would gently gripe His sinewy wrest Another while would wipe His sweating browes Her wanton fingers plai'd Sometimes with his faire locks somtimes would brai'd His long dishevell'd haire her eyes one while Would steale a glance upon his eyes and smile And then her crafty lips would speake then smother Her broken speech and then begin another At last as if a sudden thought had brake From the faire prison of her lips she spake How poore a Grisle is this arme of mine Me thinkes 't is nothing in respect of thine Of having Wealth will rouze thy heart lesse friends Make thee a potent Master of thy Ends 'T will bring thee honour make thy suites at Law Prosper at will and keepe thy Foes in awe Art thou Ambitious He will kindle fire In thy proud thoughts and make thy thoughts aspire Hee 'l come and teach thy honour how to scorne Thy old acquaintance whom thou hast outworne Hee 'l teach thee how to Lord it and advance Thy servants fortunes with thy Countenance Wouldst thou enjoy the pleasures of the flesh Hee 'l bring thee wanton Ladyes to refresh Thy drooping soule Hee 'l teach thine eyes to wander Instruct thee how to wooe Hee 'l be thy Pander Hee 'l fill thy amorous soule with the sweet passion Of powerfull Love Hee 'l give thee dispensation To sinne at pleasure He will make thee Slave To thy owne thoughts Hee 'l make thee beg and crave To be a drudge Hee 'l make thy trecherous breath Destroy thee and betray thee to thy death Lord if our Father Adam could not stay In his upright perfection one poore day How can it be expected we have power To hold out Seige one scruple of an hower Our Armes are bound with too unequall bands We cannot strive We cannot loose our hands Great Nazarite awake and looke upon us Make hast to helpe The Philistines are on us SECT 22. ARGVMENT She sues againe Samson replies The very truth Her lips betray him They binde him They put out his eyes And to the prison they convay him VVIth that the wanton whose distrustfull eye Was fixt upon reward made this replie Had the deniall of my poore request Proceeded from th' inexorable brest Of one whose open hatred sought t' endanger My haunted life Or had it bin a stranger That wanted so much nature to deny The doing of a common curtesie Nay had it bin a friend that had deceiv'd me An ordinary friend It nere had griev'd me But thou even thou my bosome friend that art The onely joy of my deceived heart Nay thou whose hony-dropping lips soloften Did plead thy undissembled love and soften My deare affection which could never yeeld To easier termes by thee to be beguild How often hast thou mockt my slender suite With forged falshoods Hadst thou but bin mute I nere had hop'd But being fairely led Towards my prompt desires which were fed With my false hopes and thy false-hearted tongue And then beguilde I hold it as a wronge How canst thou say thou lov'st me How can I Thinke but thou hat'st me when thy lips deny So poore a Suite Alas my fond desire Had slak'd had not deniall blowne the fire Grant then at last and let thy open brest Shew that thou lov'st me ' and grant my faire request Speake or speake not thy Delila shall give ore To urge her lips shall never urge thee more To whom the yeelding lover thus betrai'd His heart being tortur'd unto death and said My deare my Delila I cannot stand Against so sweet a pleader In thy hand I here entrust and to thy brest impart Thy Samsons life and secrets of his heart Know then my Delila that I was borne A Nazarite These locks were never shorne No Raisor yet came ere upon my crowne There lies my strength with thē my strength is gone Were they but shaven my Delila O then Thy Samson should be weake as other men No sooner had he spoken but he spred His body on the floore his drowzy head He pillow'd on her lap untill at last He fell into a sleepe and being fast She clipt his locks from off his carelesse head And beckning the Philistians in she said Samson awake Take strength and courage on thee Samson arise The Philistines are on thee Even as a Dove whose wings are clipt for flying Flutters her idle stumps and still relying Vpon her wonted refuge strives in vaine To quit her life from danger and attaine The freedome of her ayre-dividing plumes She struggles often and she oft presumes To take the sanctuary of the open fields But finding that her hopes are vaine she yeelds Even so poore Samson frighted at the sound That rowz'd him from his rest forsooke the ground Perceiving the Philistians there at hand To take him pris'ner he began to stand Vpon his wonted Guarde His threatning breath Brings forth the prologue to their following death He rowz'd himselfe and like a Lyon shooke His drowzy limmes and with a cloudy looke Fore-telling boystrous and tempestious weather Defied each one defied them all together Now when he came to grapple he upheav'd His mighty hand but now alas bereav'd Of wonted power that confounding arme That could no lesse then murther did no harme Blow was exchang'd for blow and wound for wound He that of late disdained to give ground Flies backe apace who lately stain'd the field With conquer'd blood does now begin to yeeld He that of late brake twisted Ropes in twaine Is bound with Pack thred He that did disdaine To feare the power of an Armed Band Can now walke prisoner in a single hand Thus have the trecherous Philistines betray'd Poore captive Samson Samson now obay'd Those glowing eyes that whitled death about Where ere they view'd their cursed hands put out They led him pris'ner and convai'd him downe To strong-wall'd Azza that Philistian towne Whose gates his shoulders lately bore away