"Know ye not a deed so daring Dooms us all to die despairing? Know ye not it is forbidden By the edicts of our foemen?" The warning is followed by a stately exhortation from the Druid priest ("The man who flies our sacrifice"), leading up to a short chorus of a very stirring character in which the Druids resolve to go on with their rites. It is followed by a pianissimo chorus of the guards whispering to each other to "secure the passes round the glen." One of them suggests the demon scheme for frightening the enemy, which leads to the chorus:-- "Come with torches brightly flashing; Rush along with billets clashing; Through the night-gloom lead and follow, In and out each rocky hollow. Owls and ravens, Howl with us and scare the cravens." In this chorus the composer has given the freest rein to his fancy, and presents the weird scene in a grotesque chaos of musical effects, both vocal and instrumental, which may fairly be called infernal, and yet preserves form and rhythm throughout. It is followed by an exalted and impressive hymn for bass solo and chorus, which is a relief after the diablerie of the preceding number:-- "Restrained by might We now by night In secret here adore Thee. Still it is day Whene'er we pray, And humbly bow before Thee. Thou canst assuage Our foemen's rage And shield us from their terrors. The flame aspires! The smoke retires! Thus clear our faith from errors! Our customs quelled, Our rights withheld, Thy light shall shine forever." Following this impressive hymn comes the terrified warning of the Christian guard (tenor) and the response of his equally terrified comrades:-- "Help, my comrades! see a legion Yonder comes from Satan's region! See yon group of witches gliding To and fro in flames advancing; Some on wolves and dragons riding, See, ah, see them hither prancing! What a clattering troop of evil! Let us, let us quickly fly them! Imp and devil Lead the revel; See them caper, Wrapt in clouds of lurid vapor." As the Christians disappear, scared by the demon _ruse_, the Druids once more, led by their priest, resume their rites, closing with another choral hymn of praise similar in style to the first. [30] His sister. Antigone. Mendelssohn wrote incidental music to four great dramas,--the "Antigone" of Sophocles (1841); the "Oedipus at Colonos" of Sophocles (1843); the "Athalia" of Racine (1843); and the "Midsummer Night's Dream" of Shakspeare (1843), the overture to which was written by him in 1826. The latter is mainly instrumental. Of the other three, the music to "Antigone" and "Oedipus" is most frequently performed, and for that reason has been selected for description.