Lines of Battle
I
The weapon-storm fell
like whitecaps breaking;
The light arose
like levin in reverse.
Like all-burning flame
at the end of the world,
Like Destroyer’s trident
as Time concludes,
Those deadly weapons
dazzled and danced;
Those fearful instruments
flashed and flared.
All the world seemed to tremble,
both waters and mountains;
All the upward shuddered,
and the eye of day darkened.
II
Helms were cloven,
hands were severed,
Armor pierced,
edges dulled,
Blasters broken,
bones laid bare,
Shields were split,
shafts lay shattered,
Rockets were crushed,
ray-guns pulverized,
Explosives were bled,
poisons emptied,
Gasses were spent,
greaves were split,
Staves were splinter’d,
standards tumbled.