With such a countenance e'er uttered laws

Unto his subject tribes? So deep his calm1685

Of soul. All tears were dried, our sorrows shamed

To silence, and we groaned no more to think

That he must perish. E'en Alcmena's self,

Whose sex is prone to mourn, now tearless stood,

A worthy mother of her noble son.1690

Nurse: But did he, on the verge of death, no prayer

To heaven breathe, no aid from Jove implore?

Philoctetes: With peaceful soul he lay, and scanned the skies,