Come, mistress, now perforce we will enjoy
That nice-preserved honesty of yours.
Lav. O Tamora! thou bear'st a woman's face,— 136
Tam. I will not hear her speak; away with her!
Lav. Sweet lords, entreat her hear me but a word.
Dem. Listen, fair madam: let it be your glory
To see her tears; but be your heart to them 140
As unrelenting flint to drops of rain.
Lav. When did the tiger's young ones teach the dam?
O! do not learn her wrath; she taught it thee;
The milk thou suck'dst from her did turn to marble; 144
Even at thy teat thou hadst thy tyranny.
Yet every mother breeds not sons alike:
[To Chiron.] Do thou entreat her show a woman pity.
Chi. What! wouldst thou have me prove myself a bastard? 148
Lav. 'Tis true! the raven doth not hatch a lark:
Yet have I heard—O could I find it now!—
The lion mov'd with pity did endure
To have his princely paws par'd all away. 152
Some say that ravens foster forlorn children,
The whilst their own birds famish in their nests:
O, be to me, though thy hard heart say no,
Nothing so kind, but something pitiful! 156
Tam. I know not what it means; away with her!
Lav. O, let me teach thee! for my father's sake,
That gave thee life when well he might have slain thee,
Be not obdurate, open thy deaf ears. 160
Tam. Hadst thou in person ne'er offended me,
135 nice-preserved: prudishly preserved
143 learn: teach
152 paws: i.e. claws; cf. n.
153 ravens . . . children; cf. n.
