So. For some stupid reason I was trying to annotate this poem BEFORE I read Judges 13-16 which was not a good idea. But, once I read it the poem made so.much.more.sense. By first breaking down the whole poem and writing about how the author is using the story of Samson, I was able to make connections between slavery and the poem. When Longfellow says 'Shorn of his noble strength and forced to grind', I feel like that is referring to how the slaves were stripped of all their rights, taken advantage of by their 'masters', and forced to do the hard work that was demanded of them. Even thought Samson [slaves] may just be one person who was weak after having his head shaved, he [the slaves] are/is still capable of tremendous things through God.
I just reread that last sentence and it's confusing but it makes sense to me. oops.
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