There were a dozen dead bodies in the Euston road
Their outlines softened by the black dust
All was still, houses locked and empty, shops closed
But looters had helped themselves to wine and food
And outside a jewelers some gold chains
And a watch were scattered on the pavement
Allah
I stopped, staring towards the sound
It seemed as if that mighty desert of houses
Had found a voice for its fear and solitude
Allah
The desolating cry worked upon my mind
The wailing took possession of me
I was intensely weary, footsore, hungry and thirsty
Why was I wandering alone in this city of the dead?
Why was I alive
When London was lying in state in its black shroud?
I felt intolerably lonely, drifting from street to empty street
Drawn inexorably towards that cry
Allah
I saw, over the trees on Primrose hill
The fighting machine from which the howling came
I crossed regent's canal, there stood a second machine, upright
But as still as the first
Allah
Abruptly, the sound ceased, suddenly the desolation
The solitude, became unendurable
While that voice sounded London still seemed alive
Now suddenly there was a change, the passing of something
And all that remained was this gaunt quiet
I looked up and saw a third machine
It was erect and motionless, like the others
An insane resolve possessed me
I would give my life to the Martians, here and now
I marched recklessly towards the titan
And saw that a multitude of black birds were
Circling and clustering about the hood
I began running along the road, I felt no fear, only a wild
Trembling exultation as I ran up the hill
Towards the motionless monster
Out of the hood hung red shreds
At which the hungry birds now pecked and tore
I scrambled up to the crest of Primrose hill
The Martian's camp was below me
A mighty space it was and scattered about it
In their overturned machines were the Martians, dead
Slain after all man's devices had failed by the humblest
Things upon the earth, bacteria, minute invisible bacteria
Directly the invaders arrived and drank and fed
Our microscopic allies attacked them
From that moment, they were doomed