From the deeps of the sacred earth

The sublime palace comes forth and mounts upward.

When she has made an end, the Gardens of Babylon sing their laud of Semiramis:

Glory to Semiramis,

Who reared us up on the arches of the great bridges

Whose span outraceth time.

This great queen was wont to delight herself beneath our floating branches;

In the midst of the ruin of two empires

She laughed in our groves,

She was happy in our green places;