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 Songs of Innocence and of Experience, Project Gutenberg ebook #1934; 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 Songs of Innocence and of Experience (1789–1794), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1934, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/blake-songs/the-angel.html, id L02898.
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.