with the prayer for peace; Saint-Saens pictures the storm in nature
and in Samson's soul by the music which accompanies the hero as he
raises his hands mutely in prayer; then follows the temptress with
faltering steps and enters her dwelling. The tempest reaches its
climax; Dalila appears at the window with a shout to the waiting
Philistine soldiery below. The voice of Samson cuts through the
stormy night: "Trahison!"

Act III.--First scene: A prison in Gaza. Samson, shorn of his
flowing locks, which as a Nazarite he had vowed should never be
touched by shears, labors at the mill. He has been robbed of his
eyes and darkness has settled down upon him; darkness, too, upon
the people whom his momentary weakness had given back into slavery.

"Total eclipse!" Saint-Saens has won our admiration for the solemn
dignity with which he has invested the penitent confession of the
blind hero. But who shall hymn the blindness of Manoah's son after
Milton and Handel? From a crowd of captive Hebrews outside the
prison walls come taunting accusations, mingled with supplications
to God. We recognize again the national mood of the psalmody of the
first act. The entire scene is finely conceived. It is dramatic in
a lofty sense, for its action plays on the stage of the heart.
Samson, contrite, humble, broken in spirit, with a prayer for his
people's deliverance, is led away to be made sport of in the temple
of Dagon. There, before the statue of the god, grouped among the
columns and before the altar the High Priest and the lords of the
Philistines. Dalila, too, with maidens clad for the lascivious
dance, and the multitude of Philistia. The women's choral song to
spring which charmed us in the first act is echoed by mixed voices.
The ballet which follows is a prettily exotic one, with an