The Destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonian Hordes
They left their Babylon bareOf all its tall men,Of all its proud horses;They made for Lebanon.
And shadowy sowers wentBefore their spears to sowThe fruit whose taste is ash,For Judah’s soul to know.
They who bowed to the Bull god,Whose wings roofed Babylon,In endless hosts darkenedThe bright-heavened Lebanon.
They washed their grime in poolsWhere laughing girls forgotThe wiles they used for Solomon.Sweet laughter, remembered not!
Sweet laughter charred in the flameThat clutched the cloud and earth,While Solomon’s towers crashed betweenTo a gird of Babylon’s mirth.
Words in this poem
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- grime n.
- Foul matter; dirt, rubbed in; sullying blackness, deeply ingrained. [Cf. Dan. grim, griim, lampblack, soot, grime, Icel. gr mask, sort of hood, OD. grijmsel, grimsel, soot, smut, and E. grimace.]
- solomon n.
- One of the kings of Israel, noted for his superior wisdom and magnificent reign; hence, a very wise man.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonian Hordes is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems by Isaac Rosenberg, Project Gutenberg ebook #66889; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Isaac Rosenberg, The Destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonian Hordes, in Poems (1922), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #66889, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/rosenberg-poems/the-destruction-of-jerusalem-by-the-babylonian-hordes.html, id L02494.
Form and metre
The Destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonian Hordes is 20 lines in 5 stanzas of 4 lines each. The metre is short measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 82%). 93% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 6.4 syllables. 5 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 40% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in short measure.
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 -A-A bare · menA · horses · lebanonA
- 2 -A-A went · sowA · ash · knowA
- 3 -A-A god · babylonA · darkened · lebanonA
- 4 -A-A pools · forgotA · solomon · notA
- 5 -A-A flame · earthA · between · mirthA
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 short measure. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| They left their Babylon bare | 7 | ···/˘·· |
| Of all its tall men, | 5 | ····· |
| Of all its proud horses; | 6 | ····/˘ |
| They made for Lebanon. | 6 | ···/˘˘ |
| And shadowy sowers went | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| Before their spears to sow | 6 | ······ |
| The fruit whose taste is ash, | 6 | ······ |
| For Judah’s soul to know. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| They who bowed to the Bull god, | 7 | ······· |
| Whose wings roofed Babylon, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| In endless hosts darkened | 6 | ·/˘·/˘ |
| The bright-heavened Lebanon. | 7 | ··/˘/˘˘ |
| They washed their grime in pools | 6 | ······ |
| Where laughing girls forgot | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| The wiles they used for Solomon. | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Sweet laughter, remembered not! | 7 | ·/˘˘/˘· |
| Sweet laughter charred in the flame | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| That clutched the cloud and earth, | 6 | ······ |
| While Solomon’s towers crashed between | 7 | ·/˘/··· |
| To a gird of Babylon’s mirth. | 8 | ····/˘·· |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.