The Watching Angel
In the dusky nook,Near the altar laid,Sleeps the child in shadowOf his mother's bed:Softly he reposes,And his lid of roses,Closed to earth, unclosesOn the heaven o'erhead.
Many a dream is with him,Fresh from fairyland,Spangled o'er with diamondsSeems the ocean sand;Suns are flaming there,Troops of ladies fairSouls of infants bearIn each charming hand.
Oh, enchanting vision!Lo, a rill upsprings,And from out its bosomComes a voice that singsLovelier there appearSire and sisters dear,While his mother nearPlumes her new-born wings.
But a brighter visionYet his eyes behold;Roses pied and liliesEvery path enfold;Lakes delicious sleeping,Silver fishes leaping,Through the wavelets creepingUp to reeds of gold.
Slumber on, sweet infant,Slumber peacefullyThy young soul yet knows notWhat thy lot may be.Like dead weeds that sweepO'er the dol'rous deep,Thou art borne in sleep.What is all to thee?
Thou canst slumber by the way;Thou hast learnt to borrowNaught from study, naught from care;The cold hand of sorrowOn thy brow unwrinkled yet,Where young truth and candor sit,Ne'er with rugged nail hath writThat sad word, "To-morrow!"
Innocent! thou sleepest--See the angelic band,Who foreknow the trialsThat for man are planned;Seeing him unarmed,Unfearing, unalarmed,With their tears have warmedThis unconscious hand.
Still they, hovering o'er him,Kiss him where he lies,Hark, he sees them weeping,"Gabriel!" he cries;"Hush!" the angel says,On his lip he laysOne finger, one displaysHis native skies.
Words in this poem
- nook n.
- A narrow place formed by an angle in bodies or between bodies; a corner; a recess; a secluded retreat. [OE. nok; cf. Gael. & Ir. niuc.]
- fairyland n.
- The imaginary land or abode of fairies.
- rill n.
- A very small brook; a streamlet. [Cf. LG. rille a small channel or brook, a furrow, a chamfer, OE. rigol a small brook, F. rigole a trench or furrow for water, W. rhill a row, rhigol a little di]
- sire n.
- A lord, master, or other person in authority. See Sir. [F. sire, originally, an older person. See Sir.]
- enfold v. t.
- To infold. See Infold.
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
- borrow v. t.
- To receive from another as a loan, with the implied or expressed intention of returning the identical article or its equivalent in kind; -- the opposite of lend. [OE. borwen, AS. borgian, fr. borg, borh, pledge; akin to D. borg, G. borg; prob. fr. root of AS. beorgan to protect. Borough.]
- candor n.
- Whiteness; brightness; (as applied to moral conditions) usullied purity; innocence. [L. candor, fr. candëre; cf. F. candeur. See candid.]
- foreknow v. t.
- To have previous knowledge of; to know beforehand.
- unarmed a.
- Not armed or armored; having no arms or weapons. [Pref. un- not + armed.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Watching Angel is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #8775, the various hands translation; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Victor Hugo, The Watching Angel, in Poems (1888), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #8775, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hugo-poems/the-watching-angel.html, id L26741.
Form and metre
The Watching Angel is 64 lines in 8 stanzas of 8 lines each. The metre is trochaic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%).
See other poems in trochaic trimeter.
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 ---ABBBA nook · laid · shadow · bedA · reposesB · rosesB · unclosesB · o'erheadA
- 2 -A-ABBBA him · fairylandA · diamonds · sandA · thereB · fairB · bearB · handA
- 3 -A-ABBBA vision · upspringsA · bosom · singsA · appearB · dearB · nearB · wingsA
- 4 -A-ABBBA vision · beholdA · lilies · enfoldA · sleepingB · leapingB · creepingB · goldA
- 5 ---ABBBA infant · peacefully · not · beA · sweepB · deepB · sleepB · theeA
- 6 ---A-BBA way · borrow · care · sorrowA · yet · sitB · writB · morrowA
- 7 -A-ABB-A sleepest · bandA · trials · plannedA · unarmedB · unalarmedB · warmed · handA
- 8 -A-A-BBA him · liesA · weeping · criesA · says · laysB · displaysB · skiesA
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 trochaic trimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| In the dusky nook, | 5 | ··/˘· |
| Near the altar laid, | 5 | ··/˘· |
| Sleeps the child in shadow | 6 | ····/· |
| Of his mother's bed: | 5 | ··/˘· |
| Softly he reposes, | 6 | /˘·/·˘ |
| And his lid of roses, | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Closed to earth, uncloses | 6 | ······ |
| On the heaven o'erhead. | 5 | ··/·· |
| Many a dream is with him, | 6 | /····· |
| Fresh from fairyland, | 5 | ··/˘· |
| Spangled o'er with diamonds | 6 | /˘··/˘ |
| Seems the ocean sand; | 5 | ··/˘· |
| Suns are flaming there, | 5 | ··/˘· |
| Troops of ladies fair | 5 | ··/˘· |
| Souls of infants bear | 5 | ··/˘· |
| In each charming hand. | 5 | ··/˘· |
| Oh, enchanting vision! | 6 | ·˘/˘/˘ |
| Lo, a rill upsprings, | 5 | ····· |
| And from out its bosom | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Comes a voice that sings | 5 | ····· |
| Lovelier there appear | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Sire and sisters dear, | 5 | /·/˘· |
| While his mother near | 5 | ··/˘· |
| Plumes her new-born wings. | 5 | ····· |
| But a brighter vision | 6 | ··/˘/˘ |
| Yet his eyes behold; | 5 | ···˘/ |
| Roses pied and lilies | 6 | /˘··/˘ |
| Every path enfold; | 5 | /˘·˘/ |
| Lakes delicious sleeping, | 6 | ·˘/˘/˘ |
| Silver fishes leaping, | 6 | /˘/˘/˘ |
| Through the wavelets creeping | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Up to reeds of gold. | 5 | ····· |
| Slumber on, sweet infant, | 6 | /˘··/˘ |
| Slumber peacefully | 5 | /˘/˘˘ |
| Thy young soul yet knows not | 6 | ······ |
| What thy lot may be. | 5 | ····· |
| Like dead weeds that sweep | 5 | ····· |
| O'er the dol'rous deep, | 5 | ····· |
| Thou art borne in sleep. | 5 | ····· |
| What is all to thee? | 5 | ····· |
| Thou canst slumber by the way; | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Thou hast learnt to borrow | 6 | ····/· |
| Naught from study, naught from care; | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| The cold hand of sorrow | 6 | ····/˘ |
| On thy brow unwrinkled yet, | 6 | ······ |
| Where young truth and candor sit, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Ne'er with rugged nail hath writ | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| That sad word, "To-morrow!" | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Innocent! thou sleepest-- | 6 | /˘˘·/˘ |
| See the angelic band, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Who foreknow the trials | 6 | ·˘/·/˘ |
| That for man are planned; | 5 | ····· |
| Seeing him unarmed, | 5 | /˘·˘/ |
| Unfearing, unalarmed, | 6 | ······ |
| With their tears have warmed | 5 | ····· |
| This unconscious hand. | 5 | ··/˘· |
| Still they, hovering o'er him, | 6 | ··/˘·· |
| Kiss him where he lies, | 5 | ····· |
| Hark, he sees them weeping, | 6 | ····/˘ |
| "Gabriel!" he cries; | 5 | /˘˘·· |
| "Hush!" the angel says, | 5 | ··/˘· |
| On his lip he lays | 5 | ····· |
| One finger, one displays | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| His native skies. | 4 | ·/˘· |
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.