SILENT, the Lord of the world
Eyes from the heavenly height,
Girt by his far-shining train,
Us, who with banners unfurl'd
Fight life's many-chanc'd fight
Madly below, in the plain.
Then saith the Lord to his own:—
"See ye the battle below?
Turmoil of death and of birth!
Too long let we them groan.
Who these “own” of the Lord are is never clarified: they are certainly angelic figures who can move freely between the realms of Heaven and Earth, and impact the latter, but no specifics are disclosed. 
 The reason for this may be purely functional: it is not who these characters are that matters, but what happens to them in the following lines.
Men of Genius