Chorus: Who lays his hand unto the fatal steel?690
Messenger: He is himself the priest; the baleful prayer
He makes, and chants the sacrificial song
With wild and boisterous words; before the shrine
He takes his place; the victims doomed to death
He sets in order, and prepares the sword.
He gives the closest heed to all details
And misses no least portion of the rite.695
The grove begins to tremble, earth to quake,
And all the palace totters with the shock,