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Suddenly from my dwelling, and left my lifeTo darkness, grief and pain, and for her sake,Not thine, I'll spare the child." And thus I savedThee twice—once from the angry sword and onceFrom the devouring flood. Moses, thou artDoubly mine; as such I claimed thee then, as suchI claim thee now. I've nursed no other childUpon my knee, and pressed upon no otherLips the sweetest kisses of my love, and now,With rash and careless hand, thou dost thrust aside that love.There was a painful silence, a silenceSo hushed and still that you might have almostHeard the hurried breathing of one and the quick.Throbbing of the other's heart: for Moses,He was slow of speech, but she was eloquentWith words of tenderness and love, and had breathedHer full heart into her lips; but there wasFirmness in the young man's choice, and he beat backThe opposition of her lips with the calmGrandeur of his will, and again he essayed to speak.
MOSES.Gracious lady, thou remembrest wellThe Hebrew nurse to whom thou gavest thy foundling.That woman was my mother; from her lips ILearned the grand traditions of our race that float,
