Semichorus
With rending of cheek and of hair
Lament ye, mourn for him, weep.
Second Messenger
Straightway the crown slid off and smote on earth,
First fallen; and he, grasping his own hair, groaned
And cast his raiment round his face and fell.
Semichorus
Alas for visions that were,
And soothsayings spoken in sleep.
Second Messenger
But the king twitched his reins in and leapt down
And caught him, crying out twice ‘O child’ and thrice,
So that men’s eyelids thickened with their tears.