Here, “gentile” refers to the Assyrians under Sennacherib; generally, it can be used to refer to anyone who is not Jewish. In context, the word’s use again underscores the poem’s religious themes and engagement with a story from the Old Testament.

“Baal” was a pagan god worshipped in the land of Canaan, a geographical area in the ancient Near East which is often mentioned in the Bible. The idols being broken in the temple of a pagan god emphasizes the power and authority of the Judeo-Christian God of the Bible.

In context, “mail” refers to chain mail, a type of body armor worn by soldiers in ancient and medieval times to protect them in battle. It consists of small metal rings joined together to mimic cloth. The rust on the soldier’s mail contrasts sharply with the fine clothing and weapons of the Assyrians as they are described at the beginning of the poem and emphasizes the totality of their destruction.

A biblical allusion, “the Angel of Death” refers to a specific angel sent by God to bring about deaths in the world. The allusion suggests that the destruction of Sennacherib and his army was divine intervention in the fulfillment of God’s will.

“Strown” is an archaic form of “strewn,” meaning “haphazardly scattered over an area.”

With sentence structure that parallels that of the two preceding lines, this simile compares Sennacherib’s army as it looked the following morning to a forest stripped of its leaves in autumn. The comparison describes the destruction of Sennacherib’s mighty forces, the bodies of his soldiers littering the scene.

These two lines, with inverted sentence structure, are a simile that describes Sennacherib’s army as it looked at sunset. The simile compares the army under its military banners to the green leaves of a forest in the summer. The comparison suggests the massive size and vitality of Sennacherib’s army.

“Galilee” refers to the Sea of Galilee in Israel, through which the Jordan River flows. Jesus is said to have walked on the waters of Galilee during the time of his ministry. The reference’s strong association with Jesus introduces the topic of Christianity into the poem.

This is another example of alliteration as the “s” sound is repeated at the beginning of “spears,” “stars,” and “sea.” The alliteration emphasizes the meter or rhythm in the line (anapestic tetrameter), and linking the spears to the stars contextualizes them as inevitable and beyond human control.

An example of alliteration, “gleaming” alliterates with “gold” as each word begins with the sound of the letter “g.” Bringing the two words together through alliteration stresses the richness of the soldiers’ clothing and suggests the wealth and power of the emperor himself.

Ashur was an ancient Assyrian city in what is now northern Iraq. It was named for the god Ashur, whom the Assyrians most revered. The reference to a pagan god contrasts with the previous biblical allusion to the Judeo-Christian Angel of Death, who prevails in destroying the Assyrians.

Sennacherib’s soldiers presumably rode fine horses into battle. The stanza creates a vivid visual image of one of these horses dying, foaming at the mouth, after the Angel of Death has destroyed Sennacherib’s army. Foam in a horse’s mouth is a sign of physical exertion. Here it is described with an unlikely simile, comparing it to surf beating against rocks on the shore.

This is a simile that compares the Assyrian to a wolf attacking sheep enclosed in a sheepfold or pen. The simile suggests the vicious, predatory nature and the might of Sennacherib and his army, as well as the relative helplessness of those they are attacking.

This phrase refers to Sennacherib, the emperor of Assyria from 705 to 681 BCE. Assyria was an empire in ancient Mesopotamia that covered large swaths of land in today’s Middle East and Levant.