Seemed throbbing in the agitated swell
Of fathomless ether. Sulphurous, forked flames,
Like myriads of avenging swords, flashed out
Above the guilty cities, and the shriek
Of frantic multitudes came roaring on
In dismal howls, as if the eternal pit
Had emptied forth its demons. The hot wrath
Of God’s fierce anger rained with scathing breath
The deluge-fire of a descending hell—
And in the flaming sheets, the stately towers—