Listening Angels
Blue against the bluer HeavensStood the mountain, calm and still,Two white Angels, bending earthward,Leant upon the hill.
Listening leant those silent Angels,And I also longed to hearWhat sweet strain of earthly musicThus could charm their ear.
I heard the sound of many trumpetsIn a warlike march draw nigh;Solemnly a mighty armyPassed in order by.
But the clang had ceased; the echoesSoon had faded from the hill;While the Angels, calm and earnest,Leant and listened still.
Then I heard a fainter clamour,Forge and wheel were clashing nearAnd the Reapers in the meadowSinging loud and clear.
When the sunset came in glory,And the toil of day was o'er,Still the Angels leant in silence,Listening as before.
Then, as daylight slowly vanished,And the evening mists grew dim,Solemnly from distant voicesRose a vesper hymn.
When the chant was done, and lingeringDied upon the evening air,From the hill the radiant AngelsStill were listening there.
Silent came the gathering darkness,Bringing with it sleep and rest;Save a little bird was singingNear her leafy nest.
Through the sounds of war and labourShe had warbled all day long,While the Angels leant and listenedOnly to her song.
But the starry night was coming;When she ceased her little layFrom the mountain top the AngelsSlowly passed away.
Words in this poem
- earthward adv.
- Toward the earth; -- opposed to heavenward or skyward.
- trumpets n.
- A plant (Sarracenia flava) with long, hollow leaves.
- clang v. t.
- To strike together so as to produce a ringing metallic sound. [L. clangere; akin to Gr. clank.]
- clamour n.
- A great outcry or vociferation; loud and continued shouting or exclamation. [OF. clamour, clamur, F. clameur, fr. L. clamor, fr. clamare to cry out. See Claim.]
- daylight n.
- The light of day as opposed to the darkness of night; the light of the sun, as opposed to that of the moon or to artificial light.
- vesper n.
- The evening star; Hesper; Venus, when seen after sunset; hence, the evening. [L., the evening, the evening star, the west; akin to Gr. west. Cf. Hesperian, Vespers.]
- starry a.
- Abounding with stars; adorned with stars.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Listening Angels is in the public domain. This text is taken from Legends and Lyrics. Part 2, Project Gutenberg ebook #2304; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Adelaide Anne Procter, Listening Angels, in Legends and Lyrics: Second Series (1861), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #2304, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/procter-legends-lyrics/listening-angels.html, id L21782.
Form and metre
Listening Angels is 44 lines in 11 stanzas of 4 lines each. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%).
See other poems in trochaic tetrameter.
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 -A-A heavens · stillA · earthward · hillA
- 2 -A-A angels · hearA · music · earA
- 3 -A-A trumpets · nighA · army · byA
- 4 -A-A echoes · hillA · earnest · stillA
- 5 -A-A clamour · nearA · meadow · clearA
- 7 -A-A vanished · dimA · voices · hymnA
- 8 -A-A lingering · airA · angels · thereA
- 9 -A-A darkness · restA · singing · nestA
- 10 -A-A labour · longA · listened · songA
- 11 -A-A coming · layA · angels · awayA
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 tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Blue against the bluer Heavens | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| Stood the mountain, calm and still, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Two white Angels, bending earthward, | 8 | ··/˘/˘·· |
| Leant upon the hill. | 6 | /˘···· |
| Listening leant those silent Angels, | 9 | /˘/˘·/˘/˘ |
| And I also longed to hear | 8 | ··/˘·˘·· |
| What sweet strain of earthly music | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| Thus could charm their ear. | 5 | ····· |
| I heard the sound of many trumpets | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| In a warlike march draw nigh; | 7 | ··/···· |
| Solemnly a mighty army | 8 | /˘˘·/˘/˘ |
| Passed in order by. | 5 | ··/˘· |
| But the clang had ceased; the echoes | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Soon had faded from the hill; | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| While the Angels, calm and earnest, | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| Leant and listened still. | 7 | /˘·/˘˘· |
| Then I heard a fainter clamour, | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| Forge and wheel were clashing near | 7 | ····/˘· |
| And the Reapers in the meadow | 8 | ··/˘··/· |
| Singing loud and clear. | 5 | /˘··· |
| When the sunset came in glory, | 8 | ··/···/˘ |
| And the toil of day was o'er, | 7 | ······· |
| Still the Angels leant in silence, | 9 | ··/˘/˘·/˘ |
| Listening as before. | 6 | /˘˘··· |
| Then, as daylight slowly vanished, | 8 | ··/·/˘/˘ |
| And the evening mists grew dim, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Solemnly from distant voices | 8 | /˘˘·/˘/˘ |
| Rose a vesper hymn. | 5 | ··/˘· |
| When the chant was done, and lingering | 9 | ······/˘˘ |
| Died upon the evening air, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| From the hill the radiant Angels | 9 | ····/˘˘/˘ |
| Still were listening there. | 6 | ··/˘˘· |
| Silent came the gathering darkness, | 9 | /˘··/˘˘/˘ |
| Bringing with it sleep and rest; | 7 | /˘····· |
| Save a little bird was singing | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| Near her leafy nest. | 5 | ··/˘· |
| Through the sounds of war and labour | 8 | ······/· |
| She had warbled all day long, | 8 | ··/˘˘··· |
| While the Angels leant and listened | 9 | ··/˘/˘·/˘ |
| Only to her song. | 5 | /˘··· |
| But the starry night was coming; | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| When she ceased her little lay | 8 | ···˘·/˘· |
| From the mountain top the Angels | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| Slowly passed away. | 5 | /˘·˘/ |
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.