Page:Titus Andronicus (1926) Yale.djvu/56

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Or, if not so, thy noble heart to break:

I bring consuming sorrow to thine age.

Tit. Will it consume me? let me see it then.

Mar. This was thy daughter.

Tit. Why, Marcus, so she is.

Luc. Ay me! this object kills me.

Tit. Faint-hearted boy, arise, and look upon her.

Speak, Lavinia, what accursed hand

Hath made thee handless in thy father's sight?

What fool hath added water to the sea,

Or brought a faggot to bright-burning Troy?

My grief was at the height before thou cam'st;

And now, like Nilus, it disdaineth bounds.

Give me a sword, I'll chop off my hands too;

For they have fought for Rome, and all in vain;

And they have nurs'd this woe, in feeding life;

In bootless prayer have they been held up,

And they have serv'd me to effectless use:

Now all the service I require of them

Is that the one will help to cut the other.

'Tis well, Lavinia, that thou hast no hands,

For hands, to do Rome service, are but vain.

Luc. Speak, gentle sister, who hath martyr'd thee?

Mar. O! that delightful engine of her thoughts,

That blabb'd them with such pleasing eloquence,

Is torn from forth that pretty hollow cage,

Where, like a sweet melodious bird, it sung

Sweet varied notes, enchanting every ear.

Luc. O! say thou for her, who hath done this deed?

Mar. O! thus I found her straying in the park,

Seeking to hide herself, as doth the deer,

 72 Nilus: the river Nile

77 effectless: ineffectual

83 engine: instrument

