Sandalphon by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
A rabbinical legend places Sandalphon at the gates of the celestial city, where he gathers earthly prayers that become flowers in his hands. Although the speaker calls the story a superstition, he pictures the angel among the stars and connects the legend to the heart's longing for relief from pain.
By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow · Genre: Religious Poetry, Meditative Poetry · 536 words
First lines
Have you read in the Talmud of old, / In the Legends the Rabbins have told / Of the limitless realms of the air, -- / Have you read it, -- the marvellous story / Of Sandalphon, the Angel of Glory, / Sandalphon, the Angel of Prayer?
How, erect, at the outermost gates / Of the City Celestial he waits, / With his feet on the ladder of light, / That, crowded with angels unnumbered, / By Jacob was seen, as he slumbered / Alone in the desert at night?
Genres
- Religious Poetry — The rhymed stanzas recount a rabbinical legend of an angel who receives human prayers at the gates of the celestial city.
- Meditative Poetry — The speaker acknowledges the legend as superstition, then considers why its promise of relief continues to occupy his imagination.
Tags
angels · prayer · rabbinical legend · heaven · spiritual longing · suffering
What this Textopian page supports
Sandalphon is listed on Textopian as a poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, dated Date unknown.
This source record anchors work identity, reading entry points, and catalog context for checking claims about the work.
- Work type: Poem
- Author: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
- Date: Date unknown
- Language: English
- Genres: Religious Poetry, Meditative Poetry
- Length: 536 words
- Structure: 1 section, 9 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Difficult (College Level)
Good citation fit
- Work identity for Sandalphon by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
- Canonical title URL and first readable passage URL
- Genre and topic classification from the Textopian catalog
- Readability and classroom-planning context
- Passage-specific claims should cite the exact /read/ URL for the relevant chapter or paragraph