The Destruction of Sennacherib
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,mmAnd cold as the spray of the rock-beating surf.mn
And there lay the rider distorted and pale,With the dew on his brow, and the rust on his mail:moAnd the tents were all silent--the banners alone--The lances unlifted--the trumpet unblown.
And the widows of Ashur are loud in their wail,mpAnd the idols are broke in the temple of Baal;And the might of the Gentile, unsmote by the sword,mqHath melted like snow in the glance of the Lord!
Words in this poem
- sheen v. i.
- To shine; to glisten.
- nightly a.
- Of or pertaining to the night, or to every night; happening or done by night, or every night; as, nightly shades; he kept nightly vigils.
- steed n.
- A horse, especially a spirited horse for state of war; -- used chiefly in poetry or stately prose. [OE. stede, AS. steda a stud-horse, war horse, fr. stod a stud of breeding steeds; akin to G. stute a mare, Icel. stedda, sto, a stud. *163. See Stud of horses.]
- broke v. i.
- To transact business for another. Brome. [See Broker, and cf. Brook.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Destruction of Sennacherib is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Works of Lord Byron. Vol. 3, Project Gutenberg ebook #21811; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Lord Byron, The Destruction of Sennacherib, in The Giaour, and Other Poems (1816), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #21811, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/byron-works-3/the-destruction-of-sennacherib-2.html, id L23964.
Form and metre
The Destruction of Sennacherib is 24 lines in 6 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is AABB, complete in 3 of its 6 stanzas. The metre is anapaestic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 94%).
See other poems in anapaestic tetrameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 AABB foldA · goldA · seaB · galileeB
- 2 AABB greenA · seenA · blownB · strownB
- 3 AABB blastA · passedA · chillB · stillB
- 4 AA-- wideA · prideA · turf,mm · surf.mn
- 5 --AA pale · mail:mo · aloneA · unblownA
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against anapaestic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| The Assyrian came down like the wolf on the fold, | 12 | ·˘/˘········ |
| And his cohorts were gleaming in purple and gold; | 12 | ··/˘·/˘·/˘·· |
| And the sheen of their spears was like stars on the sea, | 12 | ············ |
| When the blue wave rolls nightly on deep Galilee. | 12 | ·····/˘··/˘· |
| Like the leaves of the forest when Summer is green, | 12 | ·····/˘·/˘·· |
| That host with their banners at sunset were seen: | 11 | ····/˘·/··· |
| Like the leaves of the forest when Autumn hath blown, | 12 | ·····/˘·/˘·· |
| That host on the morrow lay withered and strown. | 12 | ····/˘·/˘˘·· |
| For the Angel of Death spread his wings on the blast, | 12 | ··/˘········ |
| And breathed in the face of the foe as he passed; | 12 | ··˘········· |
| And the eyes of the sleepers waxed deadly and chill, | 12 | ·····/˘·/˘·· |
| And their hearts but once heaved--and for ever grew still! | 12 | ········/˘·· |
| And there lay the steed with his nostril all wide, | 11 | ·······/˘·· |
| But through it there rolled not the breath of his pride; | 12 | ·····˘······ |
| And the foam of his gasping lay white on the turf,mm | 13 | ·····/˘······ |
| And cold as the spray of the rock-beating surf.mn | 12 | ········/˘·· |
| And there lay the rider distorted and pale, | 11 | ····/˘˘/˘·· |
| With the dew on his brow, and the rust on his mail:mo | 13 | ············· |
| And the tents were all silent--the banners alone-- | 12 | ·····/˘·/˘˘/ |
| The lances unlifted--the trumpet unblown. | 11 | ·/˘····/˘·· |
| And the widows of Ashur are loud in their wail,mp | 13 | ··/˘·/˘······ |
| And the idols are broke in the temple of Baal; | 13 | ··/˘····/˘·/˘ |
| And the might of the Gentile, unsmote by the sword,mq | 13 | ·····/······· |
| Hath melted like snow in the glance of the Lord! | 11 | ·/˘········ |
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