Sandalphon
Have you read in the Talmud of old,In the Legends the Rabbins have toldOf the limitless realms of the air,--Have you read it,--the marvellous storyOf Sandalphon, the Angel of Glory,Sandalphon, the Angel of Prayer?
How, erect, at the outermost gatesOf the City Celestial he waits,With his feet on the ladder of light,That, crowded with angels unnumbered,By Jacob was seen, as he slumberedAlone in the desert at night?
The Angels of Wind and of FireChant only one hymn, and expireWith the song's irresistible stress;Expire in their rapture and wonder,As harp-strings are broken asunderBy music they throb to express.
But serene in the rapturous throng,Unmoved by the rush of the song,With eyes unimpassioned and slow,Among the dead angels, the deathlessSandalphon stands listening breathlessTo sounds that ascend from below;--
From the spirits on earth that adore,From the souls that entreat and imploreIn the fervor and passion of prayer;From the hearts that are broken with losses,And weary with dragging the crossesToo heavy for mortals to bear.
And he gathers the prayers as he stands,And they change into flowers in his hands,Into garlands of purple and red;And beneath the great arch of the portal,Through the streets of the City ImmortalIs wafted the fragrance they shed.
It is but a legend, I know,--A fable, a phantom, a show,Of the ancient Rabbinical lore;Yet the old mediaeval tradition,The beautiful, strange superstition,But haunts me and holds me the more.
When I look from my window at night,And the welkin above is all white,All throbbing and panting with stars,Among them majestic is standingSandalphon the angel, expandingHis pinions in nebulous bars.
And the legend, I feel, is a partOf the hunger and thirst of the heart,The frenzy and fire of the brain,That grasps at the fruitage forbidden,The golden pomegranates of Eden,To quiet its fever and pain.
Words in this poem
- limitless a.
- Having no limits; unbounded; boundless. Davies (Wit's Pilgr.).
- unnumbered a.
- Not numbered; not counted or estimated; innumerable.
- throb v. i.
- To beat, or pulsate, with more than usual force or rapidity; to beat in consequence of agitation; to palpitate; -- said of the heart, pulse, etc. [OE. ; of uncertain origin; cf. Russ. trepete a trembling, and E. trepidation.]
- unmoved a.
- Not moved; fixed; firm; unshaken; calm; apathetic.
- deathless a.
- Not subject to death, destruction, or extinction; immortal; undying; imperishable; as, deathless beings; deathless fame.
- breathless a.
- Spent with labor or violent action; out of breath.
- adore v. t.
- To worship with profound reverence; to pay divine honors to; to honor as deity or as divine. [OE. aouren, anouren, adoren, OF. aorer, adorer, F. adorer, fr. L. adorare; ad + orare to speak, pray, os, oris, mouth. In OE. confused with honor, the French pr]
- entreat v. t.
- To treat, or conduct toward; to deal with; to use. [OE. entreten to treat, request, OF. entraiter to treat of; pref. en- (L. in) + traitier to treat. See Treat.]
- fervor n.
- Heat; excessive warmth. [OF. fervor, fervour, F. ferveur, L. fervor, fr. fervere. See Fervent.]
- rabbinical a.
- Of or pertaining to the rabbins or rabbis, or pertaining to the opinions, learning, or language of the rabbins.
- mediaeval a.
- Of or relating to the Middle Ages; as, mediæval architecture. [L. medius middle + aevum age. See Middle, and Age.]
- welkin n.
- The visible regions of the air; the vault of heaven; the sky. [OE. welken, welkene, welkne, wolcne, weolcne, AS. wolcen, pl. wolcnu, a cloud; akin to D. wolk, OFries. wolken, OS. wolkan, G. wolke, OHG. wolchan, and probably]
- fruitage n.
- Fruit, collectively; fruit, in general; fruitery. [F. fruitage.]
- eden n.
- The garden where Adam and Eve first dwelt; hence, a delightful region or residence. [Heb. eden delight, pleasure; also, a place of pleasure, Eden.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Sandalphon 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, Sandalphon, in The Complete Poetical Works (1839–1882), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1365, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/longfellow-poems/sandalphon.html, id L17636.
Form and metre
Sandalphon is 54 lines in 9 stanzas of 6 lines each. The rhyme scheme is AABCCB, complete in 7 of its 9 stanzas. The metre is anapaestic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%). 76% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.9 syllables. 19 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 28% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in anapaestic 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 AABCCB oldA · toldA · airB · storyC · gloryC · prayerB
- 2 AAB--B gatesA · waitsA · lightB · unnumbered · slumbered · nightB
- 3 AABCCB fireA · expireA · stressB · wonderC · asunderC · expressB
- 4 AABCCB throngA · songA · slowB · deathlessC · breathlessC · belowB
- 5 AABCCB adoreA · imploreA · prayerB · lossesC · crossesC · bearB
- 6 AABCCB standsA · handsA · redB · portalC · immortalC · shedB
- 7 AABCCB knowA · showA · loreB · traditionC · superstitionC · moreB
- 8 AABCCB nightA · whiteA · starsB · standingC · expandingC · barsB
- 9 AABBBB partA · heartA · brainB · forbiddenB · edenB · painB
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 anapaestic trimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Have you read in the Talmud of old, | 9 | ·····/˘·· |
| In the Legends the Rabbins have told | 9 | ··/˘····· |
| Of the limitless realms of the air,-- | 9 | ··/˘˘···· |
| Have you read it,--the marvellous story | 10 | ········/˘ |
| Of Sandalphon, the Angel of Glory, | 10 | ·····/˘·/˘ |
| Sandalphon, the Angel of Prayer? | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| How, erect, at the outermost gates | 9 | ·˘/··/˘·· |
| Of the City Celestial he waits, | 9 | ··/˘˘/˘·· |
| With his feet on the ladder of light, | 9 | ·····/˘·· |
| That, crowded with angels unnumbered, | 10 | ·/˘·/˘˘/˘˘ |
| By Jacob was seen, as he slumbered | 10 | ·/˘····/˘˘ |
| Alone in the desert at night? | 8 | ˘/··˘/·· |
| The Angels of Wind and of Fire | 9 | ·/˘····/˘ |
| Chant only one hymn, and expire | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| With the song's irresistible stress; | 9 | ····˘/˘˘· |
| Expire in their rapture and wonder, | 9 | ˘/··/˘·/˘ |
| As harp-strings are broken asunder | 9 | ····/˘˘/˘ |
| By music they throb to express. | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| But serene in the rapturous throng, | 9 | ·˘/··/˘˘· |
| Unmoved by the rush of the song, | 9 | ˘/˘······ |
| With eyes unimpassioned and slow, | 9 | ······˘·· |
| Among the dead angels, the deathless | 9 | ····/˘·/˘ |
| Sandalphon stands listening breathless | 9 | ····/˘˘/˘ |
| To sounds that ascend from below;-- | 8 | ···˘/··· |
| From the spirits on earth that adore, | 9 | ··/˘···˘/ |
| From the souls that entreat and implore | 9 | ····˘/·˘/ |
| In the fervor and passion of prayer; | 9 | ··/˘·/˘·· |
| From the hearts that are broken with losses, | 10 | ·····/˘·/˘ |
| And weary with dragging the crosses | 9 | ·/˘·/˘·/˘ |
| Too heavy for mortals to bear. | 8 | ·/˘·/˘·· |
| And he gathers the prayers as he stands, | 9 | ··/˘····· |
| And they change into flowers in his hands, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Into garlands of purple and red; | 9 | ··/˘·/˘·· |
| And beneath the great arch of the portal, | 10 | ········/˘ |
| Through the streets of the City Immortal | 10 | ·····/˘˘/˘ |
| Is wafted the fragrance they shed. | 8 | ·/˘·/˘·· |
| It is but a legend, I know,-- | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| A fable, a phantom, a show, | 8 | ·/˘·/˘·· |
| Of the ancient Rabbinical lore; | 9 | ··/˘˘/˘˘· |
| Yet the old mediaeval tradition, | 9 | ······˘/˘ |
| The beautiful, strange superstition, | 9 | ·/˘˘··˘/˘ |
| But haunts me and holds me the more. | 8 | ········ |
| When I look from my window at night, | 9 | ·····/˘·· |
| And the welkin above is all white, | 9 | ··/˘····· |
| All throbbing and panting with stars, | 8 | ·/˘·/˘·· |
| Among them majestic is standing | 9 | ···˘/˘·/˘ |
| Sandalphon the angel, expanding | 9 | ····/˘˘/˘ |
| His pinions in nebulous bars. | 8 | ·/˘·/˘˘· |
| And the legend, I feel, is a part | 9 | ··/˘····· |
| Of the hunger and thirst of the heart, | 9 | ··/˘····· |
| The frenzy and fire of the brain, | 9 | ·/˘·/˘··· |
| That grasps at the fruitage forbidden, | 9 | ····/˘/˘˘ |
| The golden pomegranates of Eden, | 10 | ·/˘·····/˘ |
| To quiet its fever and pain. | 8 | ·/˘·/˘·· |
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.