fine swinging measure of the lines, and
the vivid picture of the destroyed hosts in
contrast to the brilliant glory of their
triumphant invasion, are two of the chief
elements in its appeal.

THE DESTRUCTION OF
SENNACHERIB

LORD BYRON

The Assyrian came down like a 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,
The host on the morrow lay wither'd 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.

354

The next two poems may represent the youth and
the maturity of America's first great nature
poet, William Cullen Bryant (1794-1878),
although neither is in the style that
characterizes his nature verse. He wrote "To a
Waterfowl" in 1815. When he had completed his
study of law, he set out on foot to find a
village where he might begin work as a lawyer.
He was poor and without friends. At the end of
a day's journey, when he began to feel
discouraged, he saw a wild duck flying alone
high in the sky. Then the thought came to him
that he would be guided aright, just as the
bird was, and he wrote "To a Waterfowl,"