Michael The Archangel

Dinah Maria Mulock Craik 1826 (Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire) – 1887 (Shortlands, London)



A Statuette.

I.

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.

II.

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.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

1:03 min read
92

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABBAACDACADXCC EXBEEEXXFXFXAA
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 1,242
Words 210
Stanzas 2
Stanza Lengths 14, 14

Dinah Maria Mulock Craik

Dinah Maria Craik (; born Dinah Maria Mulock, also often credited as Miss Mulock or Mrs. Craik) was an English novelist and poet. She is best remembered for her novel John Halifax, Gentleman, which presents the mid-Victorian ideals of English middle-class life.  more…

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