„the king indeed hath fallen! Yet not in battle: fearfully hath fallen! Boldly, but madly fallen! With him, too, – Horror on horror! – have his beauteous dames, His harmless minstrels, perished! His own hand The palace fired! mały|Łucznicy, płaskorzeźba z Niniwy
Miasto ulega całkowitemu zniszczeniu. Medom i Asyryjczykom, połączonym teraz w walce z żywiołem, nie udaje się ugasić szalejącego pożaru. Pozostają po nim tylko gruzy i popioły.
The spacious plain seemed now an inland sea: In midst thereof, – with one high mound alone Upstanding yet, – an island, low and dark. And like a cauldron steaming. Where, so late. The dwellings of the millions, pleasure-steeped; Palace, and tower, and temple, battlement. And rock-like wall, eternal deemed, had stood, – One huge black waste of smouldering ashes lay! So sank, to endless night, that glorious Nineveh!