The Guardian-Angel by Robert Browning
Contemplating Guercino's painting of an angel guiding a child's prayer at Fano, the speaker wishes for the same protection and relief from excessive thought. Recalling three visits to the chapel, he turns the painting's effect into verse and addresses his distant friend Alfred from Ancona.
By Robert Browning · Genre: Lyric Poetry, Religious Poetry, Meditative Poetry · 713 words
First lines
A Picture at Fano
Dear and great Angel, wouldst thou only leave / That child, when thou hast done with him, for me! / Let me sit all the day here, that when eve / Shall find performed thy special ministry, / And time come for departure, thou, suspending, / Thy flight, may'st see another child for tending, / Another still, to quiet and retrieve.
Genres
- Lyric Poetry — Rhymed stanzas express the speaker's longing through direct addresses to the painted angel and his absent friend.
- Religious Poetry — The speaker wishes for angelic guidance in prayer and imagines recognizing God's creation through love and duty.
- Meditative Poetry — Contemplating the painting, the speaker imagines relief from excessive thought and a changed perception of the world.
Tags
guardian angels · religious painting · prayer · spiritual consolation · friendship · ekphrasis
What this Textopian page supports
The Guardian-Angel is listed on Textopian as a poem by Robert Browning, dated Date unknown.
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- Work type: Poem
- Author: Robert Browning
- Date: Date unknown
- Language: English
- Genres: Lyric Poetry, Religious Poetry, Meditative Poetry
- Length: 713 words
- Structure: 1 section, 9 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Fairly Easy (7th Grade)
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