Angels dancing on the head of a pin..

[MRCAW]

Hello everyone,

New user here. The thread title refers to a poem that's pretty well known, but I'm having a brain fart for sure. It's either by YEATS (pretty sure that's it) or Keats or Blake...Or maybe I'm completely off the mark...

I'd sure appreciate help with this one!

Thanks...

Chris

PS: Looking forward to exploring this site and finding out about writers I'm not aware of yet.

1st Recommendation from me: Robertson Davies - Novelist from Canada. Died a few years ago. His novels are chock full of references to all sorts of various classical subjects.

[Logos]

Hello MRCAW

From bartleby:
How many angels can stand (dance) on the head of a pin?
"Scornful description of a tedious concern with irrelevant details; an allusion to religious controversies in the middle ages. In fact, the medieval argument was over how many angels could stand on the point of a pin."

Maybe "How many angels can dance on the point of a very fine needle, without jostling one another?..." (Isaac D'Israeli, "Curiosities of Literature", 1791)" is what you're looking for?

I've enjoyed a few of Davies' works myself, namely The Cornish Trilogy, he's on my "To be Read" list!

[Darlin]

Hi, MRCAW and welcome. Sorry I can't help you with the author of the poem in question.

[MRCAW]

Well thanks for the effort though. Actually, if I recall, the poem went something like:

When asked how many angels could dance on the head of a pin,
He/she gladly answered three....

Or something like that!!

I think I may have to start reading as many Yeats poems as possible...

And yes, Robertson Davies is a good read. I've read both the Cornish Trilogy and the Deptford Trilogy...

Thanks again!




Hello MRCAW

From bartleby:
How many angels can stand (dance) on the head of a pin?
"Scornful description of a tedious concern with irrelevant details; an allusion to religious controversies in the middle ages. In fact, the medieval argument was over how many angels could stand on the point of a pin."

Maybe "How many angels can dance on the point of a very fine needle, without jostling one another?..." (Isaac D'Israeli, "Curiosities of Literature", 1791)" is what you're looking for?

I've enjoyed a few of Davies' works myself, namely The Cornish Trilogy, he's on my "To be Read" list! [/QUOTE]

[MRCAW]

Thanks Darlin for the response though!

Let's see time for a 2nd Reading recommendation from me:

Well you can't go wrong with J.D. Salinger especially if you're young or young at heart!


Hi, MRCAW and welcome. Sorry I can't help you with the author of the poem in question.[/QUOTE]

[Shira]

"Small Wire" by Anne Sexton

My faith
is a great weight
hung on a small wire,
as doth the spider
hang her baby on a thin web,
as doth the vine,
twiggy and wooden,
hold up grapes
like eyeballs,
as many angels
dance on the head of a pin.

God does not need
too much wire to keep Him there,
just a thin vein,
with blood pushing back and forth in it,
and some love.
As it has been said:
Love and a cough
cannot be concealed.
Even a small cough.
Even a small love.
So if you have only a thin wire,
God does not mind.
He will enter your hands
as easily as ten cents used to
bring forth a Coke.

[raz]

hello, every body
I would like to know the main idea of the poem "WE ARE SEVEN" bye William Wordsworth I really apreciat your work and thanks to all of you. Raz

[MRCAW]

Hi Shira,

Well it's a lovely poem BUT it's NOT (insert baby crying sounds here) the one I'm thinking of. But THANK YOU very much!!!

I do believe the angels on the head of a pin is originally from the Bible actually, & I'm almost positive that Shakespeare as incorporated it as well...

Still searching for my particular poem...

Ah well...

Chris

Small Wire" by Anne Sexton

My faith
is a great weight
hung on a small wire,
as doth the spider
hang her baby on a thin web,
as doth the vine,
twiggy and wooden,
hold up grapes
like eyeballs,
as many angels
dance on the head of a pin.

God does not need
too much wire to keep Him there,
just a thin vein,
with blood pushing back and forth in it,
and some love.
As it has been said:
Love and a cough
cannot be concealed.
Even a small cough.
Even a small love.
So if you have only a thin wire,
God does not mind.
He will enter your hands
as easily as ten cents used to
bring forth a Coke.[/QUOTE]

[Shira]

"Scornful description of a tedious concern with irrelevant details; an allusion to religious controversies in the middle ages. In fact, the medieval argument was over how many angels could stand on the point of a pin."

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition. 2002.

For a TON of information about the phrase, go to this page.

The ONLY other poem I came across with the phrase is one by Billy Collins....who is definitely not Yeats, Keats, or Blake.

Sorry I couldn't be more help.