ses her misdeed, and then breaks out in an aria of
sensuous sweetness, "With plaintive Notes and am'rous Moan, thus coos the
Turtle left alone." Its bewitching grace, however, makes little
impression upon Samson, who replies with the aria, "Your Charms to Ruin
led the Way." In another enticing melody, "My Faith and Truth, O Samson,
prove," she seeks to induce his return to her house, and a chorus of
Virgins add their entreaties. A last effort is made in the tasteful and
elegant aria, "To fleeting Pleasures make your Court;" but when that also
fails, Delilah reveals her true self. Samson rebukes her "warbling
charms," her "trains and wiles," and counts "this prison-house the house
of liberty to thine;" whereupon a highly characteristic duet ensues
("Traitor to Love"). An aria for Micah follows ("It is nor Virtue, Valor,
Wit"), leading up to a powerful dissertation on masculine supremacy in a
fugued chorus which is treated in a spirited manner, and in which we may
well fancy that the woman-hating composer gave free rein to his spite:--

"To man God's universal law
Gave power to keep his wife in awe.
Thus shall his life be ne'er dismayed,
By female usurpation swayed."

The giant Harapha now appears, and mocks Samson with the taunt that had
he met him before he was blind, he would have left him dead on the field
of death, "where thou wrought'st wonders with an ass' jaw." His first
number ("Honor and Arms scorn such a Foe") is one of the most spirited
and dashing bass solos ever written. Samson replies with the majestic
aria, "My Strength is from the living God." The two solos reach their
climax in the energetic duet between the giants, "Go, baffled Coward,
go." Micah then suggests to Harapha that he shall call upon Dagon to
dissolve "those magic spells that gave our hero strength," as a test of
his power. The recitative is followed by an impressive six-part chorus
("Hear, Jacob's God") in the true church style. Its smooth, quiet flow of
harmony is refreshing as compared with the tumult of the giants' music
which precedes, and the sensuousness of the chorus ("To Song and Dance we
give the Day") which follows it. The act closes with the massive double
chorus ("Fixed in His everlasting Seat") in which the Israelites and
Philistines celebrate the attributes of their respective deities and
invoke their protection, and in which also the composer brings out with
overwhelming effect the majesty and grandeur