The Destruction of Senaracherib

I

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.

II

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.

III

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!

IV

And there lay the steed with his nostrils 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.

V

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.

VI

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!

Lord Byron

Ut properant ad ovile lupi, de colle cohortes Assyriae subeunt. ostro nitet agmen et auro. tela micant veluti Galilaei caerula ponti sidera luce replent, spatioso reddita rore. belligerique patent ibi signaque sole cadente, ceu nemoris coma luxurians aestate virensque; sed veniente die sparsi exanimesque patebant, ceu nemoris coma lapsa putret per frigora prima. angelus ater enim quatiens in flamine pinnas praeteriensque viros odiosa afflaverat ora: lumina erant subito per somnia frigida facta hostibus, atque semel salientia corda quierant. quadrupedesque tacent patulis ibi naribus icti; quadrupedesque iacent neque iam fastidia anhelant. spumaque cana iacet iugulis elisa per herbam, saxifragique magis gelida est aspergine fluctus. pallidulique iacent equites ibi corpore torto. sordidus arma situs peredit. frons rore madescit. orba viris ibi signa, tacent tentoria cuncta; nemo canitque tuba, pote telaque tollere nemo. Assyriaeque cient viduae maestos ululatus, Assyriisque cadunt adytis simulacra refracta: numine namque dei, gladiis sine, mortuus hostis; lumine nempe dei, veluti nix, vis liquefacta.