this short study on the angels features just such a poem. It is written by J. Corson Miller, an American poet who was born in 1883. The time of his death is unknown.
However, we do know that J. Corson Miller was a devout Catholic of whom one critic wrote, "Imagination, passion, facility of musical and expressive word and phrase, lyrical tone -- these natural endowments are augmented by education, vision and Catholic faith."
Interestingly and not without note, Miller pledged his life to Our Lady and promised to be her "consecrated knight in deed and song." Many of his poems were written about her and to her.
As you read Miller's poem, Hymn to the Guardian Angel, look for his profoundly Catholic worldview, his knowledge of the faith, and the imagination and passion he employs to communicate it.
HYMN TO THE GUARDIAN ANGEL
By J. Corson Miller
PERFECTION-BRIGHT Figure, daily with me sojourning,
Thy light invisible forging celestial shelter ----
Lieutenant of God, from heights of love descended,
See, I salute thee!
Pomegranates of wisdom drop from Thy fingers,
Fire from Thine eyes, seeding the soul’s glory;
Prisoning the will in a starry liberation ---
Sentry of Sainthood!
Lo, I am sealed by the Blood and framed in the Image
Of One Who blew in my clay the breath of the Spirit –
Divine Messenger, now in supplication,
I bow before Thee. . . .
Let me, who cringed before the dragon of evil,
Summoning Thee, draw the proud sword of repentance;
Then, armored and visored with virtue, Though shalt behold
me
Statured in triumph.
Today's Angelic Strategy
In his poem, J. Corson Miller assigns a number of names to his angel beginning with his first stanza. These names tell us something about the nature of the guardian angel as well as his divine office. List the names you can find.
Read again the last stanza of the poem. Which of the names you have listed seem to apply to the persona of Miller's poem? How has he acquired them?
What do you make of the last line of the poem wherein the persona refers to himself as "Statured in triumph?"
This phrase, along with others used by Miller, alludes to battle. How are we engaged in battle in this life and how does our angel help us aspire to and attain victory?
Where is your battle today? Ask your guardian angel to help you identify a stategy so you may triumph.
Copyright 2009, by Johnnette S. Benkovic. All rights reserved.