ensnared by a woman, that is to be ascribed to human nature, which
is too weak to resist sin."



It is not often that an operatic figure invites to such a study as
that which I have attempted in the case of Samson, and it may be
that the side-wise excursion in which I have indulged invites
criticism of the kind illustrated in the metaphor of using a club
to brain a gnat. But I do not think so. If heroic figures seem
small on the operatic stage, it is the fault of either the author
or the actor. When genius in a creator is paired with genius in an
interpreter, the hero of an opera is quite as deserving of
analytical study as the hero of a drama which is spoken. No labor
would be lost in studying the character of Wagner's heroes in order
to illuminate the impersonations of Niemann, Lehmann, or Scaria;
nor is Maurel's lago less worthy of investigation than Edwin
Booth's.

The character of Delilah presents even more features of interest
than that of the man of whom she was the undoing, and to those
features I purpose to devote some attention presently.

There is no symbolism in Saint-Saens's opera. It is frankly a piece
for the lyric theatre, albeit one in which adherence to a plot
suggested by the Biblical story compelled a paucity of action which
had to be made good by spectacle and music. The best element in a
drama being that which finds expression in action and dialogue, and
these being restricted by the obvious desire of the composers to
avoid such extraneous matter as Rossini and others were wont to use