A very instructive example of the strophe combined with responsion is afforded by the second Babylonian version of the Creation, which has been for the first time translated and published by T. G. Pinches. It consists of forty lines, and is arranged in four strophes of ten lines each. The responsion is clear and vivid to the last degree, the end harks back to the beginning with manifest intention. The concatenation constitutes, as it were, a rivet between the strophes. I will confine myself at present to quoting the beginning of the first three and the ending of the last two strophes.
Str. I (beginning),
The glorious house, the house of the gods, in a glorious place had not been made,
A plant had not been brought forth, a tree had not been created, etc.
Str. I (end),
(As for) the glorious house, the house of the gods, its seat had not been made,
The whole of the lands were sea.
Str. II (beginning),
When within the sea there was a stream
In that day Eridu was made, Ê-sagila was constructed, etc.