An Empty Glass.
203
'Tis only by deception I can stay.
Nurse Grey! You shall remember.
Nurse Grey! You shall remember.
Max—
Nurse Grey? Yes! anything so that you stay.
May I die raving if my worthless tongue
Betrays the only name it loves. Hortense!
Where have I been? Oh, hold me, keep me, dear,
Back from those awful places. Cursed I am,
Cursed, to the very coward soul of me.
The depths that I have plumbed! Hortense! Hortense!
How have I slaughtered honour, by what vile
Unnatural crime have I divorced our lives,
A threefold murder, yours and hers, and mine.
Nurse Grey? Yes! anything so that you stay.
May I die raving if my worthless tongue
Betrays the only name it loves. Hortense!
Where have I been? Oh, hold me, keep me, dear,
Back from those awful places. Cursed I am,
Cursed, to the very coward soul of me.
The depths that I have plumbed! Hortense! Hortense!
How have I slaughtered honour, by what vile
Unnatural crime have I divorced our lives,
A threefold murder, yours and hers, and mine.
Hortense—
Hush! Hush! You must not talk. You must not think.
Put all the past behind you. Just be still,
Remember I'm Nurse Grey. Know nothing more.
These ghosts that gibber at you, I can lay,
These wounds that fester in you, I can heal
With one touch of my hand. And here's a kiss,
A charm to keep you safe from evil thoughts.
Now sleep, my dearest. You shall soon be well.
Sleep quietly. I am watching. I will stay.
Hush! Hush! You must not talk. You must not think.
Put all the past behind you. Just be still,
Remember I'm Nurse Grey. Know nothing more.
These ghosts that gibber at you, I can lay,
These wounds that fester in you, I can heal
With one touch of my hand. And here's a kiss,
A charm to keep you safe from evil thoughts.
Now sleep, my dearest. You shall soon be well.
Sleep quietly. I am watching. I will stay.
