Classic Poem

Angelic natures, great in arms
Against the dragon and his pow'rs,
Whom Michael's excellence alarms
From highest heav'n's imperial tow'rs;

Ye that in Christ his church attend
What time the services are sung,
And your propitious spirits blend
With our united heart and tongue.

O come, celestial watch and ward,
As in the closet I adore
My fellow-servants of the Lord,
To whom these measures I restore.

If Satan's malice was withstood
Where Moses cold and breathless lay,
Give Michael, patient, meek, and good,
Through Christ, the glory of the day.

If Tobit's charitable soul,
A type of Jesus Christ to come,
Was blessed from the poor man's dole
Ev'n to the social sparrow's crumb;

If to the living and the dead
His hand was rich in deeds of love,
First Raphael from his Master fled
By mandate in the heights above.

If Zacharias was inform'd
That God his pious pray'rs should crown,
The barren womb to ripeness warm'd,
'Twas Gabriel brought the tidings down.

Hail mighty princes in the height,
Which o'er stupendous works preside
Of vast authority and weight—
But there are other pow'rs beside.

These, one for every man, are sent
God in the spirit to reveal,
To forward ev'ry good event,
And each internal grief to heal.