]
I am,--thy handmaid,--all and only thine,--
The very pulses of my heart are thine!
Feel how they throb to comfort thee to-day--
To-day! Because it is thy time of trouble.
[She takes his hand and puts it to her forehead and
her lips, but before she can lay it upon her heart,
he draws away from her.]
NAAMAN:
Thou art too dear to injure with a kiss,--
How should I take a gift may bankrupt thee,
Or drain the fragrant chalice of thy love
With lips that may be fatal? Tempt me not
To sweet dishonour; strengthen me to wait
Until thy prophecy is all fulfilled,
And I can claim thee with a joyful heart.
RUAHMAH: [Turning away.]
Thou wilt not need me then,--and I shall be
No more than the faint echo of a song
Heard half asleep. We shall go back to where
We stood before this journey.
NAAMAN:
Never again!
For thou art changed by some deep miracle.
The flower of womanhood hath bloomed in thee,--
Art thou not changed?
RUAHMAH:
Yea, I am changed,--and changed
Again,--bewildered,--till there's nothing clear
To me but this: I am the instrument
In an Almighty hand to rescue thee
From death.
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