Death Behind The Walls

"In 332 the Mages of Tyre
Read omens black
Written in entrails
Of their sacrifice
Yet none could believe
That their citadel
Could ever be breached:
Surrounded by the sea
A spire emerging from the blue
With death lurking behind
Every battlement manned"

Alexander rode thence
With phalanxes strong
And great machines of war
In his eyes burned the truth
Of every black omen
The Mages foretold

For seven long months
Catapults spat their wrath
And hails of arrows
Blackened the sun!

The Lion of Macedonia
Roared at the gates
Eager to feast
On the flesh of victory!

When death walked behind
The mighty walls of Tyre
The laments of the east
Rose in a chorus of dirge!

When death was unleashed
In the doomed city of Tyre
Alexander stood tall
The fury of the Gods!

Long and hard
Was each terrible day
The Phoenicians fell from the wails
Down to a watery grave!

Until at last
Marching up a ramp
Made of corpses and debris
Alexander shattered
The Tyrian ivory gates:

The Lion's fury was great
For each of his men
Bloody revenge he did claim:
No man was spared
Women and children
Were sold as slaves
A solemn reminder
To the barbarians who remained