The Destruction of Sennacherib

George Gordon Lord Byron 1788 (London) – 1824 (Missolonghi, Aetolia)



The Assyrian came down like the wolf on the fold,
   And his cohorts were gleaming in purple and gold;
   And the sheen of their spears was like stars on the sea,
   When the blue wave rolls nightly on deep Galilee.

    Like the leaves of the forest when Summer is green,
   That host with their banners at sunset were seen:
   Like the leaves of the forest when Autumn hath blown,
   That host on the morrow lay withered and strown.

    For the Angel of Death spread his wings on the blast,
  And breathed in the face of the foe as he passed;
  And the eyes of the sleepers waxed deadly and chill,
  And their hearts but once heaved, and for ever grew still!

   And there lay the steed with his nostril all wide,
  But through it there rolled not the breath of his pride;
  And the foam of his gasping lay white on the turf,
  And cold as the spray of the rock-beating surf.

   And there lay the rider distorted and pale,
  With the dew on his brow, and the rust on his mail:
  And the tents were all silent, the banners alone,
  The lances unlifted, the trumpet unblown.

   And the widows of Ashur are loud in their wail,
  And the idols are broke in the temple of Baal;
  And the might of the Gentile, unsmote by the sword,
  Hath melted like snow in the glance of the Lord!

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 19, 2023

1:11 min read
163

Quick analysis:

Scheme AABB CCDC EEFF GGHH IIDC IFJJ
Closest metre Iambic hexameter
Characters 1,262
Words 239
Stanzas 6
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4

George Gordon Lord Byron

George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron, known simply as Lord Byron, was an English poet, peer and politician who became a revolutionary in the Greek War of Independence, and is considered one of the leading figures of the Romantic movement. He is regarded as one of the greatest English poets and remains widely read and influential. Among his best-known works are the lengthy narrative poems Don Juan and Childe Harold's Pilgrimage; many of his shorter lyrics in Hebrew Melodies also became popular. He travelled extensively across Europe, especially in Italy, where he lived for seven years in the cities of Venice, Ravenna, and Pisa. During his stay in Italy he frequently visited his friend and fellow poet Percy Bysshe Shelley. Later in life Byron joined the Greek War of Independence fighting the Ottoman Empire and died of disease leading a campaign during that war, for which Greeks revere him as a national hero. He died in 1824 at the age of 36 from a fever contracted after the First and Second Siege of Missolonghi. His only legitimate child, Ada Lovelace, is regarded as a foundational figure in the field of computer programming based on her notes for Charles Babbage's Analytical Engine. Byron's illegitimate children include Allegra Byron, who died in childhood, and possibly Elizabeth Medora Leigh.  more…

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