'The Destruction of Sennacherib', Byron. Analysis for GCSE Literature (Edexcel - CONFLICT)

Summary of Key Points
Structure
A narrative poem, it has a very regular - military - rhythm and rhyme. Byron uses anapestic tetrameter (da da dum x 4) which evokes the sound of galloping horses. The poem is written in rhyming couplets which adds to it force and energy.
Point of View
The poem retells the Biblical version of King Sennacherib's attempted siege of Jerusalem (there are conflicting historical accounts) The perspective is therefore Christian.
Imagery
The Assyrian army is presented, through Byron's imagery, as a formidable foe. It is a 'wolf' hunting down sheep in their 'fold' - this connotes evil. Hissing sibilance amplifies this. Rich colours suggest the wealth of the army and their comparison with stars highlights the number of soldiers.
In the second stanza, the soldiers are likened to the leaves of a forest, again emphasizing the scale of this enemy. Its sudden and absolute defeat - it becoming, metaphorically, brown autumn leaves blown around in the wind - therefore shocks the reader.
We are told that the Angel of Death is responsible for the defeat - sent by God, it breathed into the faces of soldiers and killed them as they slept, the night before the assault.
Byron focuses on a dead horse - cold like the sea - and its rider - his armour already rusted by morning and dew on his brow. the scene is described as silent and desolate.
Contrasting with this is the noise made by the wailing widows of the dead soldiers back in Ashur - the religious capital of Assyria. The idols of Baal (the Assyrian god) are broken in the temple - emphasizing the wrath and might of the Christian God.
Themes
The might of the human army is nothing compared with the power of God - the Assyrian army 'melts like snow'.
Imagery associated with nature is a key feature of the poem. Byron is perhaps suggesting its superiority - the fact that it endures and renews. The fallen soldier is soon undermined by nature - perhaps the poet is reminding us that we should never get to full of a sense of our own importance since we will all return to nature, however powerful or superior we may think we are in life.