Passage Analysis

"Your own eyes must tell you: Thebes is tossed on a murdering sea.
And can not lift her head from the death surge. A rust consumes the buds
and fruits of the earth; the herds are sick; children die unborn, and labor is
vain. The god of plague and pyre raids like detestable lightning through the
city, and all the house of Kadmos is laid waste, all emptied, and all darkened:
Death alone battens upon the misery of Thebes."
The tone of this passage is chaotic. The usage of words like "plague",
"misery", and "raids" makes the reader feel as if the scene is not only chaotic
but also dreadful and frightening. "Death alone battens upon the misery of
Thebes" is an excellent way personification is used to add to the tone. Here,
the author is giving death the human ability to eat, and death is "feeding" on
the lives of the citizens of Thebes. Syntax also creates an unpleasant scene
in the minds of the reader. "A rust consumes the buds and fruits of the earth;
the herds are sick; children die unborn, and labor is vain". The way
unfortunate events are listed one after the other create the feeling as if they
all piling up and merging together to increase the chaos.