The Angelus
Far through the lilac sky the Angelus bellBrings back again the hail of Gabriel.Its refluent, three-fold, immemorial rhymeFollows the fading sun, from clime to clime—Ripples and lives a moment in the heart,Wherever the dark hours come and the bright depart.From land to fading land, the whole world round,It airily runs, a rosary of sound—Bursts silverly on sainted Palestine;Lives for a moment on the Apennine;Flings on the fields of France a far refrain;Sends a sweet trouble on the bells of Spain;Touches Manhattan; hurries on to beA murmur on Saint Francis by the sea.
But dreamily here the hours of evening go,With tented haycocks in the rosy glow—Gray heaps that Homer saw in ages gone,Sweet-smelling heaps that Abel rested on.And two have heard the summons on the air,And turned from labor, the embodied prayer;Bowed with the fine humility of trees,Of bended barley in the quiet breeze;As faithful as the never-failing EarthThat gives us bread of rest and bread of mirth;As patient as the rocks that have been stillSince put into their places on the hill;In league with Earth and all her quiet things,Whose lives are wrapped in shade and whisperings;In league with Earth and all the things that liveTo give their toil for others and forgive.
Pausing to let the hush of evening passAcross the soul, as shadow over grass,They cease their day-long sacrament of toil,That living prayer, the tilling of the soil!And richer are their two-fold worshippingsThan flare of pontiff or the pomp of kings.For each true deed is worship: it is prayer,And carries its own answer unaware.Yes, they whose feet upon good errands runAre friends of God, with Michael of the sun;Yes, each accomplished service of the dayPaves for the feet of God a lordlier way.The souls that love and labor through all wrong,They clasp His hand and make the circle strong;They lay the deep foundation, stone by stone,And build into Eternity God’s throne!
He is more pleased by some sweet human useThan by the learnèd book of the recluse;Sweeter are comrade kindnesses to HimThan the high harpings of the Seraphim;More than white incense circling to the domeIs a field well furrowed or a nail sent home.More than the hallelujahs of the choirsOr hushed adorings at the altar fires,Is a loaf well kneaded or a room swept cleanWith light-heart love that finds no labor mean.
Words in this poem 19
- refluent a.
- Flowing back; returning; ebbing. [L. refluens, p. pr. of refluere to flow back; pref. re- re- + fluere to flow. See Flurent.]
- immemorial a.
- Extending beyond the reach of memory, record, or tradition; indefinitely ancient; as, existing from time immemorial. [Pref. im- not + memorial: cf. F. immémorial.]
- fading n.
- An Irish dance; also, the burden of a song.
- clime n.
- A climate; a tract or region of the earth. See Climate. [L. clima. See Climate.]
- wherever adv.
- At or in whatever place; wheresoever.
- depart v. i.
- To part; to divide; to separate. [OE. departen to divide, part, depart, F. départir to divide, distribute, se départir to separate one's self, depart; pref. dé- (L. de) + partir to part, depart,]
- airily adv.
- In an airy manner; lightly; gaily; jauntily; fippantly.
- rosary n.
- A bed of roses, or place where roses grow. [LL. rosarium a string of beads, L. rosarium a place planted with roses, rosa a rose: cf. F. rosaire. See Rose.]
- silverly adv.
- Like silver in appearance or in sound.
- sainted a.
- Consecrated; sacred; holy; pious.
- apennine a.
- Of, pertaining to, or designating, the Apennines, a chain of mountains extending through Italy. [L. Apenninus, fr. Celtic pen, or ben, peak, mountain.]
- hurries n.
- A staith or framework from which coal is discharged from cars into vessels.
- dreamily adv.
- As if in a dream; softly; slowly; languidly.
- tented a.
- Covered with tents.
- sacrament n.
- The oath of allegiance taken by Roman soldiers; hence, a sacred ceremony used to impress an obligation; a solemn oath-taking; an oath. [L. sacramentum an oath, a sacred thing, a mystery, a sacrament, fr. sacrare to declare as sacred, sacer sacred: cf. F. sacrament. See Sacred.]
- flare v. i.
- To burn with an unsteady or waving flame; as, the candle flares. [Cf. Norw. flara to blaze, flame, adorn with tinsel, dial. Sw. flasa upp, and E. flash, or flacker.]
- unaware a.
- Not aware; not noticing; giving no heed; thoughtless; inattentive.
- harpings n.
- The fore parts of the wales, which encompass the bow of a vessel, and are fastened to the stem. Totten.
- seraphim n.
- The Hebrew plural of Seraph. Cf. Cherubim.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Angelus is in the public domain. This text is taken from Lincoln & other poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #54527; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Edwin Markham, The Angelus, in Lincoln and Other Poems (1901), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #54527, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/markham-lincoln/the-angelus.html, id L10797.
Form and metre
The Angelus is 56 lines in 4 stanzas. The rhyme scheme is AABBCCDDEEFFGGHH, complete in 2 of its 4 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 85%). 90% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.1 syllables. 5 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 27% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic pentameter.
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 AABBCCDD--EEFF bellA · gabrielA · rhymeB · climeB · heartC · departC · roundD · soundD · palestine · apennine · refrainE · spainE · beF · seaF
- 2 AABBCCDDEEFFGGHH goA · glowA · goneB · onB · airC · prayerC · treesD · breezeD · earthE · mirthE · stillF · hillF · thingsG · whisperingsG · liveH · forgiveH
- 3 AABBCCDDEEFFGGHH passA · grassA · toilB · soilB · worshippingsC · kingsC · prayerD · unawareD · runE · sunE · dayF · wayF · wrongG · strongG · stoneH · throneH
- 4 AA--BBCCDD useA · recluseA · him · seraphim · domeB · homeB · choirsC · firesC · cleanD · meanD
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 iambic pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Far through the lilac sky the Angelus bell | 11 | ···/···/˘˘· |
| Brings back again the hail of Gabriel. | 10 | ··˘/···/˘˘ |
| Its refluent, three-fold, immemorial rhyme | 11 | ·/˘˘···˘/˘· |
| Follows the fading sun, from clime to clime— | 10 | /˘·/˘····· |
| Ripples and lives a moment in the heart, | 10 | /˘···/˘··· |
| Wherever the dark hours come and the bright depart. | 12 | ˘/˘··/····˘/ |
| From land to fading land, the whole world round, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| It airily runs, a rosary of sound— | 10 | ·/˘˘··/˘·· |
| Bursts silverly on sainted Palestine; | 10 | ·/˘˘·/˘/˘· |
| Lives for a moment on the Apennine; | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Flings on the fields of France a far refrain; | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Sends a sweet trouble on the bells of Spain; | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Touches Manhattan; hurries on to be | 10 | /˘˘/˘/˘··· |
| A murmur on Saint Francis by the sea. | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| But dreamily here the hours of evening go, | 11 | ·/˘˘··/·/˘· |
| With tented haycocks in the rosy glow— | 10 | ·/˘/···/˘· |
| Gray heaps that Homer saw in ages gone, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Sweet-smelling heaps that Abel rested on. | 10 | ·/˘··/˘/˘· |
| And two have heard the summons on the air, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| And turned from labor, the embodied prayer; | 10 | ···/˘·˘/˘· |
| Bowed with the fine humility of trees, | 10 | ····˘/˘˘·· |
| Of bended barley in the quiet breeze; | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| As faithful as the never-failing Earth | 10 | ·/˘··/˘/˘· |
| That gives us bread of rest and bread of mirth; | 10 | ·········· |
| As patient as the rocks that have been still | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Since put into their places on the hill; | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| In league with Earth and all her quiet things, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Whose lives are wrapped in shade and whisperings; | 10 | ·······/˘˘ |
| In league with Earth and all the things that live | 10 | ·········· |
| To give their toil for others and forgive. | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| Pausing to let the hush of evening pass | 10 | /˘·····/˘· |
| Across the soul, as shadow over grass, | 10 | ˘/···/···· |
| They cease their day-long sacrament of toil, | 10 | ·····/˘˘·· |
| That living prayer, the tilling of the soil! | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| And richer are their two-fold worshippings | 10 | ·/˘····/˘˘ |
| Than flare of pontiff or the pomp of kings. | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| For each true deed is worship: it is prayer, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| And carries its own answer unaware. | 10 | ·/˘··/˘·˘/ |
| Yes, they whose feet upon good errands run | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Are friends of God, with Michael of the sun; | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Yes, each accomplished service of the day | 10 | ··˘/˘/˘··· |
| Paves for the feet of God a lordlier way. | 10 | ·········· |
| The souls that love and labor through all wrong, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| They clasp His hand and make the circle strong; | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| They lay the deep foundation, stone by stone, | 10 | ····˘/˘··· |
| And build into Eternity God’s throne! | 10 | ····˘/˘˘·· |
| He is more pleased by some sweet human use | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Than by the learnèd book of the recluse; | 9 | ·······˘/ |
| Sweeter are comrade kindnesses to Him | 10 | /˘·/·/˘˘·· |
| Than the high harpings of the Seraphim; | 10 | ···/˘··/˘˘ |
| More than white incense circling to the dome | 10 | ···/·/˘··· |
| Is a field well furrowed or a nail sent home. | 11 | ····/˘····· |
| More than the hallelujahs of the choirs | 10 | ····˘/˘··· |
| Or hushed adorings at the altar fires, | 11 | ··˘/˘··/˘/˘ |
| Is a loaf well kneaded or a room swept clean | 11 | ····/˘····· |
| With light-heart love that finds no labor mean. | 10 | ·······/˘· |
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.