The Two Recording Angels Ascending
THE ANGEL OF GOOD DEEDS, with closed book.God sent his messenger the rain,And said unto the mountain brook,"Rise up, and from thy caverns lookAnd leap, with naked, snow-white feet,From the cool hills into the heatOf the broad, arid plain.
God sent his messenger of faith,And whispered in the maiden's heart,"Rise up and look from where thou art,And scatter with unselfish handsThy freshness on the barren sandsAnd solitudes of Death."
O beauty of holiness,Of self-forgetfulness, of lowliness!O power of meekness,Whose very gentleness and weaknessAre like the yielding, but irresistible air!Upon the pagesOf the sealed volume that I bear,The deed divineIs written in characters of gold,That never shall grow old,But through all agesBurn and shine,With soft effulgence!O God! it is thy indulgenceThat fills the world with the blissOf a good deed like this!
THE ANGEL OF EVIL DEEDS, with open book.Not yet, not yetIs the red sun wholly set,But evermore recedes,While open still I bearThe Book of Evil Deeds,To let the breathings of the upper airVisit its pages and eraseThe records from its face!Fainter and fainter as I gazeIn the broad blazeThe glimmering landscape shines,And below me the black riverIs hidden by wreaths of vapor!Fainter and fainter the black linesBegin to quiverAlong the whitening surface of the paper;Shade after shadeThe terrible words grow faint and fade,And in their placeRuns a white space!
Down goes the sun!But the soul of one,Who by repentancehath escaped the dreadful sentence,Shines bright below me as I look.It is the end!With closed BookTo God do I ascend.Lo! over the mountain steepsA dark, gigantic shadow sweepsBeneath my feet;A blackness inwardly brighteningWith sullen heat,As a storm-cloud lurid with lightning.And a cry of lamentation,Repeated and again repeated,Deep and loudAs the reverberationOf cloud answering unto cloud,Swells and rolls away in the distance,As if the sheetedLightning retreated.Baffled and thwarted by the wind's resistance.
It is Lucifer,The son of mystery;And since God suffers him to be,He, too, is God's minister.And labors for some goodBy us not understood!
Words in this poem
- lowliness n.
- The state or quality of being lowly; humility; humbleness of mind. [From Lowly.]
- meekness n.
- The quality or state of being meek.
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- effulgence n.
- The state of being effulgent; extreme brilliancy; a flood of light; great luster or brightness; splendor.
- evermore adv.
- During eternity; always; forever; for an indefinite period; at all times; -- often used substantively with for.
- whitening n.
- The act or process of making or becoming white.
- dreadful a.
- Full of dread or terror; fearful.
- sullen a.
- Lonely; solitary; desolate. Wyclif (Job iii. 14). [OE. solein, solain, lonely, sullen; through Old French fr. (assumed) LL. solanus solitary, fr. L. solus alone. See Sole, a.]
- lurid a.
- Pale yellow; ghastly pale; wan; gloomy; dismal. [L. luridus.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Two Recording Angels Ascending is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Complete Poetical Works of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Project Gutenberg ebook #1365; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, The Two Recording Angels Ascending, in Christus: A Mystery (1872), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1365, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/longfellow-christus/the-two-recording-angels-ascending.html, id L17949.
Form and metre
The Two Recording Angels Ascending is 79 lines in 6 stanzas.
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 ABAACCB bookA · rainB · brookA · lookA · feetC · heatC · plainB
- 2 -AABB- faith · heartA · artA · handsB · sandsB · death
- 3 AAAABCBDEECDFFGG holinessA · lowlinessA · meeknessA · weaknessA · airB · pagesC · bearB · divineD · goldE · oldE · agesC · shineD · effulgenceF · indulgenceF · blissG · thisG
- 4 -AABCBCDDEEFGHFGHIIDD book · yetA · setA · recedesB · bearC · deedsB · airC · eraseD · faceD · gazeE · blazeE · shinesF · riverG · vaporH · linesF · quiverG · paperH · shadeI · fadeI · placeD · spaceD
- 5 AABBCDCD--EFEFGHIGIJHHJ sunA · oneA · repentanceB · sentenceB · lookC · endD · bookC · ascendD · steeps · sweeps · feetE · brighteningF · heatE · lightningF · lamentationG · repeatedH · loudI · reverberationG · cloudI · distanceJ · sheetedH · retreatedH · resistanceJ
- 6 ----AA lucifer · mystery · be · minister · goodA · understoodA
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. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| THE ANGEL OF GOOD DEEDS, with closed book. | 10 | ·/˘·····˘· |
| God sent his messenger the rain, | 8 | ···/˘˘·· |
| And said unto the mountain brook, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| "Rise up, and from thy caverns look | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And leap, with naked, snow-white feet, | 9 | ···/˘˘··· |
| From the cool hills into the heat | 8 | ········ |
| Of the broad, arid plain. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| God sent his messenger of faith, | 8 | ···/˘˘·· |
| And whispered in the maiden's heart, | 9 | ·/˘˘··/˘· |
| "Rise up and look from where thou art, | 8 | ········ |
| And scatter with unselfish hands | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Thy freshness on the barren sands | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| And solitudes of Death." | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| O beauty of holiness, | 7 | ·/˘·/˘˘ |
| Of self-forgetfulness, of lowliness! | 10 | ··˘/˘˘·/˘˘ |
| O power of meekness, | 6 | ·/˘·/˘ |
| Whose very gentleness and weakness | 9 | ·/˘/˘˘·/˘ |
| Are like the yielding, but irresistible air! | 11 | ···/˘··˘/˘· |
| Upon the pages | 5 | ···/˘ |
| Of the sealed volume that I bear, | 9 | ···˘/˘··· |
| The deed divine | 4 | ··˘/ |
| Is written in characters of gold, | 9 | ·/˘·/˘˘·· |
| That never shall grow old, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| But through all ages | 5 | ···/˘ |
| Burn and shine, | 3 | ··· |
| With soft effulgence! | 5 | ··˘/˘ |
| O God! it is thy indulgence | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| That fills the world with the bliss | 7 | ······· |
| Of a good deed like this! | 6 | ······ |
| THE ANGEL OF EVIL DEEDS, with open book. | 10 | ·/˘·/··/˘· |
| Not yet, not yet | 4 | ···· |
| Is the red sun wholly set, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| But evermore recedes, | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| While open still I bear | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| The Book of Evil Deeds, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| To let the breathings of the upper air | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Visit its pages and erase | 8 | /˘·/˘·˘/ |
| The records from its face! | 6 | ·˘/··· |
| Fainter and fainter as I gaze | 8 | /˘·/˘··· |
| In the broad blaze | 4 | ···· |
| The glimmering landscape shines, | 7 | ·/˘˘/·· |
| And below me the black river | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Is hidden by wreaths of vapor! | 8 | ·/˘···/˘ |
| Fainter and fainter the black lines | 8 | /˘·/˘··· |
| Begin to quiver | 5 | ˘/·/˘ |
| Along the whitening surface of the paper; | 11 | ˘/·/˘/˘··/˘ |
| Shade after shade | 4 | ···· |
| The terrible words grow faint and fade, | 9 | ·/˘˘····· |
| And in their place | 4 | ···· |
| Runs a white space! | 4 | ···· |
| Down goes the sun! | 4 | ···· |
| But the soul of one, | 5 | ····· |
| Who by repentance | 5 | ··˘/˘ |
| hath escaped the dreadful sentence, | 9 | ·˘/˘·/˘/˘ |
| Shines bright below me as I look. | 8 | ········ |
| It is the end! | 4 | ···· |
| With closed Book | 3 | ··· |
| To God do I ascend. | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Lo! over the mountain steeps | 7 | ····/˘· |
| A dark, gigantic shadow sweeps | 8 | ··˘/˘/·· |
| Beneath my feet; | 4 | ···· |
| A blackness inwardly brightening | 9 | ·/˘/˘˘/˘˘ |
| With sullen heat, | 4 | ·/˘· |
| As a storm-cloud lurid with lightning. | 9 | ····/˘·/˘ |
| And a cry of lamentation, | 8 | ········ |
| Repeated and again repeated, | 9 | ˘/˘·˘/˘/˘ |
| Deep and loud | 3 | ··· |
| As the reverberation | 7 | ··˘·˘/˘ |
| Of cloud answering unto cloud, | 8 | ··/˘˘··· |
| Swells and rolls away in the distance, | 9 | ···˘/··/˘ |
| As if the sheeted | 5 | ···/˘ |
| Lightning retreated. | 5 | /˘˘/˘ |
| Baffled and thwarted by the wind's resistance. | 11 | /˘·/˘···˘/˘ |
| It is Lucifer, | 5 | ··/˘˘ |
| The son of mystery; | 6 | ···/˘˘ |
| And since God suffers him to be, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| He, too, is God's minister. | 7 | ····/˘˘ |
| And labors for some good | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| By us not understood! | 6 | ····˘/ |
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.