O Athens, Athens, thou hast reft us
Of our all we did possess!
Sonless mothers thou hast left us,
Weeping wives and husbandless!
Atossa.
Thou see’st I have kept silence: this sad stroke
Hath struck me dumb, as powerless to give voice
To my own sorrows, as to ask another’s.
Yet when the gods send trouble, mortal men
Must learn to bear it. Therefore be thou calm;