What I found particularly interesting in The Destruction of Sennacherib was the use of chaos versus peace. This is primarily depicted in stanzas four and five. The fourth stanza describes the death of a horse slain in the siege, while the fifth stanza depicts the death of that horse’s rider. The poem shows the stark differences between the two deaths, where the horse’s death is far more chaotic and aggressive, whereas the rider’s death is more silent and graceful. It seems as if the horse knew about death’s presence and tried to fight it off, albeit in a losing battle. The rider and the soldiers, in general, seem far more unaware of death’s presence lingering over them all. In this way, death catches them by surprise; as such, there is far more silence associated with it.

There is something tragic about this, especially with the line “the trumpet unblown,” showing a lack of ceremony in these deaths. This could also lead to the poem’s title, “Destruction,” which differs from death as death suggests a loss of life. Destruction, however, implies all remnants of something be obliterated. A removal, rather than a snuffing. In this way, the silence in the deaths of the soldiers shows how Sennacherib is being destroyed, as his legacy, through his soldiers, is being quietly taken away. The horse, however, tries to resist. This may suggest something about the naivety of the soldiers, whereas the horse has some recognition of what is occurring.