Samson hears the voice of his God in the growing and again hesitates.

The storm bursts as Dalila shrieks out the hate that fills her and runs toward her dwelling.
Beethoven sought to suggest external as well as internal peace in the "Dona nobis" of his Mass in D by mingling the sounds of war 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.