Analysis of Michael The Archangel
Dinah Maria Mulock Craik 1826 (Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire) – 1887 (Shortlands, London)
MY white archangel, with thy steadfast eyes
Beholding all this empty ghost-filled room,
Thy clasped hands resting on the sword of doom,
Thy firm, close lips, not made for human sighs
Or smiles, or kisses sweet, or bitter cries,
But for divine exhorting, holy song
And righteous counsel, bold from seraph tongue.
Beautiful angel, strong as thou art wise,
Would that the sight of thee made wise and strong!
Would that this sheathèd sword of thine, which lies
Stonily idle, could gleam out among
The spiritual hosts of enemies
That tempting shriek--'Requite thou wrong with wrong.'
Lama Sabachthani,--How long, how long.
MICHAEL, the leader of the hosts of God,
Who warred with Satan for the body of him
Whom, living, God had loved--If cherubim
With cherubim contended for one clod
Of human dust, for forty years that trod
The gloomy desert of Heaven's chastisement,
Are there not ministering angels sent
To battle with the devils that roam abroad,
Clutching our living souls? 'The living, still
The living, they shall praise Thee!'--Let some great
Invisible spirit enter in and fill
The howling chambers of hearts desolate;
With looks like thine, O Michael, strong and wise,
My white archangel with the steadfast eyes.
Scheme | ABBAACDACADXCC EXBEEEXXFXFXAA |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11101111 0101110111 1111010111 1111111101 1111011101 1101010101 010101111 1001011111 1101111101 1111111111 11011101 0100011100 110111111 1011111 1001010111 11110101011 11011111 11010111 1101110111 010101101 111100101 11010101101 10101010101 0101111111 01001010001 0101011100 1111110101 11101011 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,242 |
Words | 210 |
Sentences | 11 |
Stanzas | 2 |
Stanza Lengths | 14, 14 |
Lines Amount | 28 |
Letters per line (avg) | 34 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 483 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 101 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:03 min read
- 92 Views
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"Michael The Archangel" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/8034/michael-the-archangel>.
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