The Angel
I dreamt a dream! What can it mean?And that I was a maiden QueenGuarded by an Angel mild:Witless woe was ne'er beguiled!
And I wept both night and day,And he wiped my tears away;And I wept both day and night,And hid from him my heart's delight.
So he took his wings, and fled;Then the morn blushed rosy red.I dried my tears, and armed my fearsWith ten-thousand shields and spears.
Soon my Angel came again;I was armed, he came in vain;For the time of youth was fled,And grey hairs were on my head.
Words in this poem
- witless a.
- Destitute of wit or understanding; wanting thought; hence, indiscreet; not under the guidance of judgment.
- morn n.
- The first part of the day; the morning; -- used chiefly in poetry. [OE. morwen, morgen, AS. morgen; akin to D. morgen, OS. morgan, G. morgen, Icel. morginn, morgunn, Sw. morgon, Dan. morgen, Goth. maúrgins. Cf. Morrow, Morning.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Angel is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems of William Blake, Project Gutenberg ebook #574; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: William Blake, The Angel, in Poems of William Blake (1783–1794), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #574, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/blake-poems/the-angel.html, id L02010.
Form and metre
The Angel is 16 lines in 4 stanzas of 4 lines each. Every stanza rhymes AABB. The metre is common measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%). 100% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.2 syllables. 12% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in common measure.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 AABB meanA · queenA · mildB · beguiledB
- 2 AABB dayA · awayA · nightB · delightB
- 3 AABB fledA · redA · fearsB · spearsB
- 4 AABB againA · vainA · fledB · headB
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against common measure. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| I dreamt a dream! What can it mean? | 8 | ········ |
| And that I was a maiden Queen | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Guarded by an Angel mild: | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| Witless woe was ne'er beguiled! | 7 | /˘···˘/ |
| And I wept both night and day, | 7 | ······· |
| And he wiped my tears away; | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| And I wept both day and night, | 7 | ······· |
| And hid from him my heart's delight. | 8 | ······˘/ |
| So he took his wings, and fled; | 7 | ······· |
| Then the morn blushed rosy red. | 7 | ····/˘· |
| I dried my tears, and armed my fears | 8 | ········ |
| With ten-thousand shields and spears. | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Soon my Angel came again; | 7 | ··/˘·˘/ |
| I was armed, he came in vain; | 7 | ······· |
| For the time of youth was fled, | 7 | ······· |
| And grey hairs were on my head. | 7 | ······· |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.