I am a stranger,
I come an exile here.
“She files along the winding stream
And is drawn up dead from the sea.
I come an exile here,
Since that is my bitter fate.
“She is drawn up dead from the sea,” etc.
While the genuine refrain originated in the chiming in of the chorus with the other singers, this chain singing must have begun from new voices taking up the verse where others dropped it. For a last word on the subject, take this exquisite poem of Goethe’s, which combines the chain repetition with the charm of a refrain:
“O gieb vom weichen Pfühle
Träumend ein halb Gehör!