Comment 1 of 2, added on September 26th, 2005 at 1:35 AM.

Most on-line web sites inaccurately cite this poem. The third, fourth, and fifth lines should read,

And with the full life of consummate Heaven
Heaving beneath him like a mother’s breast
Warm with her first-born’s slumber in that nest.

There may be other web sites accurately citing this poem, but the only one I have located is, http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=65283488. The poem can also be found accurately cited in several books on the poetry of Browning.

For me, the poem contrasts, (1) the seraph with the poet, (2) Heaven where the seraph sings with Earth where the poet sings, and, (3) the glory and joy with which the seraph sings with the sorrow and woe with which the poet sings. The poem recognizes the songs of both seraph and poet equally, and simply exhorts them to sing on, each in the settings where they presently find themselves.

I am uncertain as to the exact meaning of the phrase, “…and in the burning of the Seven…” My thought is that Browning may have been alluding to the seven Spirits of God from The Revelation of John:

And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thundering and voices: and there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God. (Revelation 4:5 KJV)

And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth. (Revelation 5:6 KJV)

The note on page 376 of Complete Works Of Elizabeth Barrett Browning Vol. II explains “the seven” to mean, “the seven holy angels, which present the prayers of the saints, and which go in and out before the glory of the Holy One, according to the Old Testament apocrypha (see Tobit xii, 15); who in God’s presence nearest to his throne stand ready at command,” according to Milton see Paradise Lost Book III, 654; Also Vol. I, “The Seraphim” note 216.

Tobit xii, 15 reads, “I am Raphael, one of the seven angels who stand ever ready to enter the presence of the glory of the Lord.”

Milton’s Paradise Lost Book III, 648-655 reads,

The Arch Angel Uriel one of the seven
Who in God's presence, nearest to his Throne
Stand ready at command, and are his Eyes
That run through all the Heavens, or down to the Earth
Bear his swift errands over moist and dry,
O're Sea and Land; him Satan thus accosts;
Uriel, for thou of those seven Spirits that stand
In sight of God's high Throne, gloriously bright,

Note 216 on page 282 of Complete Works Of Elizabeth Barrett Browning Vol. I reads, “The seven everlasting spirits: A reference to the seven angels of the seven churches in John’s vision (see Revelation 1:16,20) with which has grown up a mass of mediaeval Christian lore, mixed with talmudic traditions, assigning names and special functions to each of the holy angles who wait about the throne of Heaven: Abdiel, Gabriel, Michael, Raguel, - all of whom are alluded to in the Bible, and the remaining three, - Raphael, Simiel, and Uriel, whose names appear in the apocrypha.

Revelation 1:16 KJV reads, “And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp twoedged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shining in his strength.”

Revelation 1:20 KJV reads, “The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches.”

Without regard to the many and varied interpretations that can be given for all of the phrases, “and in the burning of the seven,” “the seven lamps of burning fire before the throne,” “the Seven Spirits of God,” “the seven horns and seven eyes,” “the seven stars…seven angels…seven golden candlesticks…seven churches,” or Tobit, or Milton, or John, the seraph unquestionably sings within a heavenly realm, in comparison to the grave-riven stage of earth for the poet.

Lines 3 through 5, Browning describes the warmth and comfort to be enjoyed in Heaven, above which the seraph sings, with a comparison to the warmth and comfort a sleeping newborn experiences at its mother’s swelling breast.

In contrast, lines 6 through 9 describe the world in which the poet sings. Again, I am uncertain as the exact meaning of the phrase, “… -- and in the darkness prest from his own soul by earthly weights,” but the overall general feeling or meaning of these four lines are not obscured by the phrase. The word, “prest” might be an archaic English word, that today we would think of as “seized,” but I could very well be wrong on this.

The “Amen” of the entire universe expresses approval for the songs of both seraph and poet. The final line encourages both to sing on equally - the song of the one being in no way, less than the song of the other.

Robin from United States