One of the many tragedy stories presented in The Monk's Tale, the narrative of Sampson talks about the downfall of the titular character, about the betrayal of his wife and how even without his strength he defeated his enemies. Being related in many ways to other heroes stories such as Hercules and Enkidu, it presents the classic story of the main character falling from grace and coming back (although in a more tragical way) to defeat his enemies.
Using a stanza of five-eight lines and a rhyme structure organized in ababbcb, its perhaps the most complex text of The Canterbury Tales, the book where The Monk's Tales can be found.