The World's Most Famous Operas — Samson and Delilah

Music by: Camille Saint-Saëns (1835–1921)
Rendered into Arabic by: Samir Shikhani
An opera in three acts, first produced in Weimar in 1877

The Characters:
• Samson: leader of the Israelites
• Delilah: a priestess in the temple of Dagon
• Abimelech: governor of Gaza
• The High Priest of Dagon
• Hebrews, Philistines, dancing girls

The Time: the year 1150 before Christ
The Place: the city of Gaza in Palestine

Act One

The Scene: a public square in Gaza

The Hebrews have gathered in the public square before the temple of Dagon, god of the Philistines, and have fallen to bewailing their ill fortune under the oppression of these, their traditional enemies, crying: "Why has God forsaken us?" But one of them, Samson, rebukes them for it, telling them that the hour of deliverance is near at hand, and that they will soon be lifting up their voices in praise instead of protest.

Abimelech, the Philistine military commander and governor of the city, comes to the square at the head of a force of soldiers and orders them to keep quiet and calm; he taunts them with their defeat and their humiliation, saying that their god, Jehovah, is no match for the Philistine god Dagon. Samson defies Abimelech and accuses him of injustice and tyranny, crying out that the hour of the Hebrews' deliverance will soon strike, and that their god, Jehovah, will stretch out a helping hand to them as in the past. The Hebrews take fire and echo Samson's defiance. In a fit of violent rage Abimelech draws his sword against Samson, but before he can strike him Samson wrests the sword from his hand and slays him with a mighty blow.

Terror runs through the limbs of the Philistine soldiers, and they fall back before this catastrophe. Samson and the Jews leave the square, Abimelech's sword raised high. The great doors of the temple of Dagon swing wide open, and the High Priest comes forth and berates the Philistine soldiers for letting Abimelech's slayer slip through their hands. They kneel before his fierce anger, and two of them try to explain to the High Priest how a strange power had nailed them to the spot. But he pours out on them the full measure of his wrath and his contempt for their cowardice, declaring that the Jews must be utterly destroyed in punishment for their heinous crime.

A messenger arrives in haste and informs them that a mighty army under Samson's command has vanquished the Philistines. The High Priest calls down a curse upon Samson and the Hebrews, but the Philistines are seized with foreboding; their hearts quail and they press to flee. And so they carry off Abimelech's body and turn tail.

The square teems once more with Hebrews, but now they do not bewail their ill fortune; rather they exult in victory. They acclaim Samson as their leader. The temple doors swing wide open once again, and instead of the High Priest there appears the enchanting priestess, Delilah, surrounded by maidens bearing garlands of flowers. They come down the steps and sway among the Hebrew warriors in a stirring pagan dance, and Delilah approaches Samson seductively; but one of the elders warns him against surrendering to her spell, lest she lead him down to destruction. Yet Samson is captivated by Delilah's beauty, and he prays for deliverance from her sway. Delilah sings a sweet song beginning "The voices of spring are singing," in which she tells him that she will await him at her house, fragrant with the scent of flowers, in the Valley of Sorek. The Hebrew elder repeats his warning as Delilah and the young dancing girls withdraw slowly into the temple.

Act Two

The Scene: Delilah's house in the Valley of Sorek

It is a night in early spring, and here is Delilah, decked in her most splendid raiment and adorned with the most precious jewels and ornaments, awaiting Samson in the luxuriant garden that surrounds her house in the Valley of Sorek. She calls upon the god of love to help her shatter the enemy of her people, in the song "O Love, come aid my weakness!"

Lightning flashes in the distance, heralding the expected storm, and the High Priest comes into the garden to make certain of Delilah's presence and to steel her resolve. He tells her that the Hebrews are masters of the city, and that Samson, it appears, possesses a superhuman strength. Hence she must uncover his secret so that he can be overcome. He promises her the whole treasure of the temple of Dagon if she succeeds. But Delilah assures him that she hates Samson as much as he himself does, and that the fate of her people rests in faithful, trusty hands.

The High Priest bids her farewell; the darkness deepens in the garden, and from time to time the roll of thunder is heard in the distance. As for Samson, he gropes his way through the dark, hesitant and perplexed, torn between his passion and his sense of sacred duty. Delilah receives him with rapture and overflowing joy, but he turns away from her caresses and declares to her that he is the envoy of Divine Providence, and that he has been chosen to free his people and lead them to manifest victory. She assures him that the god of love is stronger than the god of the Israelites. He cannot resist her when she sings to him "My heart opens to your sweet voice," and he cries out that it is his lot to love her, that his love is fierce and defies even his God. Delilah asks him, as proof of his great love for her, to confide to her the secret of his superhuman strength. He tries to tear himself away from her as the signs of the approaching storm swell little by little. Suddenly she pushes him from her and rushes into the house. The sky flashes and thunders; Samson stands perplexed and hesitant for a moment, then follows her into the house. Delilah has triumphed...

Some Philistine soldiers steal into the garden and surround the house. Delilah appears at one of the windows calling for help; the soldiers leap inside and seize their victim. The despairing voice of Samson is heard crying that he has been deceived and has fallen victim to treachery. For he had weakened in surrendering to his desire, and had told Delilah that the secret of his great strength lies in his hair: if it is shaved off, his strength departs from him, and he grows weak and becomes like other men, powerless to resist his enemies.

Act Three

Scene One: the prison of Gaza

The Philistines put out Samson's eyes and brought him down to Gaza; they bound him with fetters of brass and cast him into the city prison, where he passes his days grinding wheat, remorseful and despairing. The voices of the Hebrews reach him from the other cells of the prison and from beyond the walls, reproaching him for his failure to lead them to victory as he had promised them. Overcome with shame, he falls prostrate before the god Jehovah, asking Him to take his soul in atonement for his sin and to deliver his people. And while he is supplicating, one of the guards comes, unfastens his bonds and the chains that hold him to the mill, and leads him away.

Scene Two: inside the temple of Dagon

A vast throng has gathered before the great temple of Dagon, and the High Priest enters in solemn procession, accompanied by nobles of the Philistines, followed by Delilah and a troop of dancing girls carrying garlands of flowers and golden cups of wine. They sing a song in praise of the dawn that vanquishes the darkness, and dance a "Bacchanale" (after Bacchus, the god of wine), quietly at first, then with wanton abandon...

A boy comes in leading the blind Samson, dressed in the bright brown garb of the prison, while the victorious Philistines are decked in their most splendid raiment. They stare at him with malice and insolence and mock him. As for Delilah, cup in hand, she is drunk with the wine of triumph. She offers him her hand in derision, to lead him. Samson raises his eyes, their light extinguished, imploring heaven for rebuke and chastisement, saying: "O my Lord God, remember me, and strengthen me, O God, only this once, that I may take one vengeance of the Philistines for my two eyes!" The High Priest and Delilah perform the rites of the sacrifice, pouring wine over the blazing altar. Samson is bidden to make his offering to the pagan god. Samson says to the boy who holds his hand: "Let me touch the pillars upon which the temple stands, that I may lean upon them." The boy does so, and Samson orders him to flee the temple at once. And while the hymns of the Philistines swell, Samson repeats his prayer that his old superhuman strength may return to him for one single moment. He takes hold of the two middle pillars upon which the temple stands, bracing himself upon the one with his right hand and upon the other with his left, and cries: "Upon me and upon my enemies, O Lord!" He bows himself with might, and the temple falls upon the lords of the Philistines and the people within it — so that the dead whom he slew at his death were more than those he had slain in his life.