Dagonet

“ Sir Dagonet did himself come to th' cottage th' very next day to see th' lass, and they had many words together, and at last he did accuse her [159] o' false pride and proud humility. And saith he,
"Wouldst thou make misery for the man who loves thee best of all the world, merely to satisfy a notion o' thine own? Greatness and goodness," saith he, "dwell in the heads and hearts o' mankind, not in their birth or purses. I do ask thee, with all respect, to be my wife, and I am prepared to face th' anger o' my mother and o' th' Queen. ”

“ Of any man more vision than is his;
Yet I could wish for you a larger part
For your last entrance here than this you play
Tonight of a sad insect stinging Merlin.
The more you sting, the more he pities you;
And you were never overfond of pity.
Had you been so, I doubt if Arthur’s love,
Or Gawaine’s, would have made of you a knight.
[Pg 160] No, Dagonet, you cannot leave me now,
Nor would you if you could. You call yourself
A fool, because the world and you are strangers.
You are a proud man, Dagonet; you have suffered
What I alone have seen. You are no fool ”

“ When Merlin comes to Dagonet for prayer,
It is indeed the end.”
“And in the end
Are more beginnings, Dagonet, than men
Shall name or know today. It was the end
[Pg 151] Of Arthur’s insubstantial majesty
When to him and his knights the Grail foreshowed
The quest of life that was to be the death
Of many, and the slow discouraging
Of many more. Or do I err in this?”
“No,” Dagonet replied; “there was a Light;
And Galahad, in the Siege Perilous,
Alone of all on whom it fell, was calm ”

“ The human heart still sets up its idol; the young, full of hope and joy like the Philistines after their victory, pay homage to the world, and expect from it those pleasures and delights which it is ever promising to bestow. Dagon has a lofty shrine, and many bow down before it. Then comes some providential dispensation of sorrow, that opens the eyes to the fact that the world and the things of the world have no power to secure our peace. Have we not known such a moment, when Dagon is seen prostrate on earth, and we feel that he is indeed but an idol? ”

“ Elak asked again. "Tell me, before I go mad thinking hell has loosed its legions on Atlantis."
"They are the children of Dagon," Zend said. "Their dwelling-place is in the great deeps of the ocean. Have you never heard of the unearthly ones who worship Dagon?"
"Yes. But I never believed——"
"Oh, there's truth in the tale. Eons and unimaginable eons ago, before mankind existed on earth, only the waters existed. There was no land. And from the slime there sprang up a race of beings which dwelt in the sunken abysses of the ocean, inhuman creatures that worshipped Dagon, their god. ”

“ Fulfilled was the mystery that was in the Lamb, and fulfilled was the type that was in Dagon. Blessed is He Who by the True Lamb redeemed us, and destroyed our destroyer as He did Dagon! In December when the nights are long, rose unto us the Day, of Whom there is no bound! In winter when all the world is gloomy, forth came the Fair One Who cheered all in the world! In winter that makes the earth barren, virginity learned to bring forth. ”

“ How could they attribute their victory to the power of Dagon when Dagon himself could not keep his own ground before the ark? But they are resolved Dagon shall be their god still, and therefore set him in his place. Bishop Hall observes hence, It is just with God that those who want grace shall want wit too; and it is the work of superstition to turn men into the stocks and stones they worship. Those that make them are like unto them. ”

“ Dagon, I pray
Thy raving wrath confuse her daring mind.
[DELILAH ascends the altar, and places the child in Dagon's arms; then she remains kneeling.]
SAMSON: [From within.] Lord Sabaoth! Be blessed for evermore,
That Thou no heathen hast created me
CHORUS: Devoted to Dagon's holy bliss
The flesh and blood of mankind is,
If it ascends a sacrifice
'Gainst thund'ring wrath 'tis calming spice. ”

“ Happy for us if the knowledge make us turn to One who is over all, God exalted for ever!
But it is not always that sorrow and disappointment wean the soul from the world. We too often find Dagon set up again on his shrine, and as ardently worshipped as ever. Yes, even the gray-headed, the weary-hearted, who from repeated trials know the hollowness of the world and its sinful pleasures—who have, as it were, but the stump of the idol left—too often, even to the last, fondly worship that stump! ”

“ The Dagon of the Philistines and of the inhabitants of the Phœnician coast was worshipped, according to the united opinion of the Hebrew commentators on the Bible, under the same form. [141] When the ark of the Lord was brought into the great temple of the idol at Ashdod, and the statue fell a second time, “the head of Dagon and both the palms of his hands were cut off upon the threshold; only the fishy part of Dagon was left to him.” [142] His worship appears to have extended over Syria, as well as Mesopotamia and Chaldæa. ”

“ But the Dagda, with some companions, went in pursuit of it, and when they reached the hall the Dagda called to his harp, saying: "O holder of summer and winter, of sleep and joy and sorrow, come to me." Immediately the harp rushed down from the wall and hurried to its master, killing those of the Fomorians who were in its way. Then the Dagda touched the magic wires, and the first music that he played made the Fomorians sorrowful; the women and children, and even the great warriors, wept and lamented as though all they held dearest had gone from them. ”

“ As soon as the Dagda saw the harp he turned his cloak in the twinkling of an eye so that the nine capes were outmost and he stretched his hands and cried:
The great harp gave a leap to him. It went through the hosts of the Fomor like lightning through clouds, and they perished before it like stubble before flame. The Dagda struck one note on it, and all the Fomor lost the power to move or speak. Then he began to play, and through that iron country grass and flowers came up, slender apple-trees grew and blossomed, and over them the sky was blue without a cloud. ”

“ Thus in the Bible story only the 'stump' or fish's tail of Dagon was left to him. In some of the Ninevite sculptures of this deity, the head of the fish forms a kind of mitre on the head of the man, while the body of the fish appears as a cloak or cape over his shoulders and back. This is a sure sign to the mythological student that a god so adorned is in process of quitting the animal for the human form. ”

“ And look, there is the brute's back-fin."
"What is it?" asked Cleanor.
"A shark, of course," replied the old man. "They never bode any good to anyone. Dagon only knows where we shall find the tunnies again. They will be leagues away from here by sunrise to-morrow, and there is no telling what way they will go. However, we have done pretty well, even if we don't see them again this moon. To-night we will lie-to; it will be time enough in the morning to decide what is to be done." ”

“ Male figures, with a horned cap on the head, and ending in a fish, and priests with fishskins hung above them, are often found on the monuments of Nineveh. As the word Dag means "fish," we may with confidence find in the god Dakan the fish-god of the Babylonians; the god who out of moisture gives plenty, fertility, and increase. That the Canaanites also worshipped Dagon is proved by the names Beth-Dagon and Kaphar-Dagon, which occur near Joppa and Sichem. The Philistines also on the coast of the Mediterranean invoked the same god. ”

“ So in his name Dagon had imposed new rents on the people, and the active movement on which he had been looking while moving along the shores was the extortion of rents. It was clear that the man whom they had been beating on the shore had nothing to pay with. The children who were crying bitterly in the boat were sold at a drachma per head for a twelvemonth, and that woman who was wading in the water to her waist and weeping was their mother.
"Women are very unquiet," said the prince to himself. "Sarah is the quietest woman; but others love to talk much, to cry and raise an uproar." ”

“ Dagon, one of the principal deities of the Philistines, was worshipped at Gaza and Ashdod (2Sa 5:2., and 1 Macc. 10:83) , and, according to Jerome on Isa 46:1, in the rest of the Philistine towns as well. It was a fish-deity (דּגון, from דּג, a fish) , and in shape resembled the body of a fish with the head and hands of a man (1Sa 5:4) . ”

“ He stalked through the world like a god, for no earthly weapon could harm him, and to him a century was like an hour. In his wanderings he came upon a primitive people inhabiting the island of Dagonia, and it pleased him to give this race culture and civilization, and by his aid they built the city of Dagon and they abode there and worshipped him. ”

“ Elak said, wincing as the wizard's nail dug into his wrist. "But go on."
"These things hate man, for they feel that man has usurped their kingdom. Their greatest hope is to sink the continents again, so that the seas will roll over all the earth, and not a human being will survive. Their power will embrace the whole world, as it once did eons ago. They are not human, you see, and they worship Dagon. They want no other gods worshipped on Earth. ”

“ All people will thus walk in the name of their gods: they will give them the praise of their achievements; and shall not we pay this tribute to our God whose kingdom ruleth over all? Yet, considering what wicked arts they used to get Samson into their hands, it must be confessed it was only such a dunghill-deity as Dagon that was fit to be made a patron of the villany. Sacrifices were offered, and songs of praise sung, on the general thanksgiving day, for this victory obtained over one man; there were great expressions of joy, and all to the honour of Dagon. ”

“ DAGON, THE NATIONAL GOD OF THE PHILISTINES
Dagon was represented with the face and hands of a man and the tail of a fish (1 Samuel v. 4) . Various kinds of fish were objects of general worship among the Egyptians.
The worship of Dagon did not exclude that of other Baals (2 Kings i. 2, 3) . He was eminently the god of agriculture (1 Samuel vi. 4, 5) .
The most famous temples of Dagon were at Gaza (Judges xvi. 21, 30) and Ashdod (1 Samuel v. 5, 6) . This latter temple was of pre-Maccabean construction, and was destroyed by Jonathan, the brother of Judas the Maccabee (c. 148 b.c.) ”

“ Elak said. "How do the knots hold?"
"They hold," the wizard said discouragedly. "But one strand is loose. My fingers are raw. The—the red globe is broken?"
"No," Elak said. "Some cords were torn loose as I fought with your slave, and the light went out of it. Why?"
"The gods be thanked!" Zend said fervently. "If I can repair the damage and light the globe again, the children of Dagon will die. That's the purpose of it. The rays it emits destroy their bodies, which are otherwise invulnerable, or almost so. If I hadn't had the globe, they'd have invaded my palace and killed me long ago." ”

“ You have lived to see the Dagon before which you and your friends have for so many years cheerfully prostrated yourselves fall to the ground, and lie a helpless, hopeless ruin on the very threshold of the temple where it lately stood defiant and dominant. ”

“ His solar character is well preserved, even in the sequel of the Swiss legend, in which he appears no less skilful as a steersman than as an archer, and in which, after traversing, like Dagon, the tempestuous sea of night, he leaps at daybreak in regained freedom upon the land, and strikes down the oppressor who has held him in bondage.
But the sun, though ever victorious in open contest with his enemies, is nevertheless not invulnerable. At times he succumbs to treachery, is bound by the frost-giants, or slain by the demons of darkness. ”

“ Samson, too, shall sacrifice to Dagon. A boy is told to lead him where all can witness his humiliation. Samson feels that the time for retribution upon his enemies is come. He asks to be led between the marble pillars that support the roof of the temple. Priests and people, the traitress and her dancing women, the lords of the Philistines, the rout of banqueters and worshippers—all hymn the praise of Dagon. ”

“ That Marna was lineally descended from Dagon is probable in every way, and it is therefore interesting to note that he gave oracles, that he had a circular temple, where he was sometimes worshipped by human sacrifices, that there were wells in the sacred circuit, and that there was also a place of adoration to him situated, as was usual, outside the town. Certain “marmora” in the temple, which might not be approached, especially by women, may perhaps be connected with the threshold which the priests of Dagon would not touch with their feet (1 Sam. v. 5, Zeph. i. 9) . ”

“ Third Scene, Gorgeous sleeping apartment in an Oriental style. An ottoman and an escutcheon at the right side. Fourth Scene, Hall for private worship of the Idolaters. Dagon's statue stands in the background; before him stands a small altar.
FOURTH ACT.—Dark walled prison—a heavy block with chains at the side.
FIFTH ACT.—First Scene, the Court before the Dagon's Temple. Second Scene, The open Dagon's Temple. Dagon stands—the fire glowing in the back ground. It is a figure with a misshaped face of a man—long chin, beard and large cross-eyes. ”

“ Understanding his dog, the latter said to the hunchback, as he pointed in that direction with his finger: "The children are there?"
"Yes, M. Dagobert."
"I was sure of it. Good dog!—Oh, yes! beasts are better than men—except you, my dear girl, who are better than either man or beast. But my poor children! I shall see them, I shall have them once more!"
So saying, Dagobert, in spite of his age, began to run very fast towards Spoil-sport. "Agricola," cried Mother Bunch, "prevent thy father from knocking at that door. He would ruin all." ”