Besides these two-column discourses, of which we have just seen an example, we find three-column discourses, especially in Micah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel. They frequently consist of three parallel parts, each divided into two or three strophes. The strophes of each column correspond on the one hand, the corresponding stanzas of each part on the other, so that we have, if we may so express it, a _vertical_ and a _horizontal_ responsion. The double responsion gives, as it were, the fixed points between which the network of the strophes is outspread. A classic example of this method is the great discourse in the ninth chapter of Jeremiah, which belongs to the best period, and the authenticity of which is unreservedly admitted by Biblical criticism. Lack of space unfortunately forbids me to give it here arranged according to the principles I have laid down. It is time to observe that the same laws may be shown to prevail in cuneiform inscriptions and the works of the prophet Mohammed. AN ASSYRIAN EXAMPLE As an example of responsion I give a passage from the great inscription of Sargon (L. 186-194). That city and that palace, (But) its ruler, Asshur, the father of the gods, Its royal architect, In the glory of his shining countenance May he attain to old age, May he obtain power Graciously may he look upon it, _For ever and ever_, _To days far hence_ _May_ its _maker_ grow _old_. May he proclaim its _renewing_. _With his shining mouth may he decree_: _With his sounding lips may he speak_: The protecting genius, He who dwelleth in them, The rescuing God, In health of body, Day and night And joy of heart, Let them rule therein, And gladness of spirit, Nor let their power cease. May he rejoice therein, May he taste the joy of life. A BABYLONIAN EXAMPLE 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),