Father Nannar, whose rule is perfect, chief of the gods;

Father Nannar, who dost go forth in the robe of majesty, chief of the gods.

A fragment of a hymn to Nebo (Nebo No. 2) has in a passage of five lines yet a different use of the refrain. The refrain which makes up the second half of each line is varied in three lines by the introduction of a new word from the first half line:

O lord, thy might is a might incomparable;

O Nebo, thy might is a might incomparable;

Thy house Ezida is a house incomparable;

Thy city Borsippa is a city incomparable;

Thy district of Babylon is a district incomparable.

The carrying forward in the refrain of the important word of the first half line does suggest very forcibly that an individual chanted the first half line, and a choir the second half line. The same arrangement would hold for the couplet that follows the above lines, the second line of the couplet being a response to the first.

Thy weapon is a dragon from whose mouth no poison flows;