mother, followed your corpse to the tomb, or closed your

eyes, or bathed your wounds, shrouding you with the

robe which I worked so hard to finish day and night, and

made the loom the medicine of an old wife’s sorrow!

Where shall I seek you? what land now contains those 10

severed limbs, that mutilated corpse? is this the sole relic

of yourself that you bring back to me, my son? is this

what I followed over land and sea? Pierce me, if you have

aught of human feeling—shower on me all your darts, ye

Rutulians, let the sword make me its first meal; or do 15