By voiceless children of the unsullied deep. 580
Mourneth each dwelling, left forlorn;
Parents bereaved, and elders mourn
These heaven-sent griefs, and weep
Their sum of woe.
Strophe III.
Already through all Asia's land
None owneth Persia's sway;
None, at their sovereign lord's command,
Henceforth will tribute pay:
Nor, falling prostrate, own his right 590
Them to enthrall; for kingly might
Hath passed away.
Antistrophe III.
No more the tongue is guarded now
By mortals; from this hour,
Free are the throng to speak, I trow,
Since loosed the yoke of power;
And Aias' sea-encircled isle,
In blood-stained fields holds what erewhile
Was Persia's flower.
[Re-enter Atossa, without regal state, accompanied by Attendants bearing utensils for sacrifice.]
Atossa.
My friends, whoso is versed in sorrow, knows 600
That when on mortals comes a surge of ills,
Prone are they then to fear; but when the tide
