O Child, is it I that have slain thee?
For surely thy heart I read,
And saw how thy face was set.
But mine were the hands to chain thee
To the life that thou wouldst forget,
And to bring thee back from the dead.
(While she is speaking, others enter: the Women’s Chorus, the Attendants, and two Children. They stand awe-struck looking on.)
Nurse.—
I knew thy heart,
Patient and tender; no grief