The Angel in the House

I. Woman a a She was a creature bright and pure as air,
Endowed with graces that from Heaven,
In birds and flowers and rivers flow aspired
To tread the earthy ground, until
On some fond heart
Thou art pure Love, rooted and shy,
Rooted in the hidden center of the earth
And fairest blossom of the flower therein.

II. Serenity

I slept, and the hours fled softly by,
Knitting their gleaming threads of gold.
I dreamed, and the world seemed thus to lie,
Gentled by the memories of old.

Let morning’s first bright rays unfold
The story written on the earth;
Let sweet winds whisper and all hearts behold
The brightening of a world anew.

III. The Folly of Fame

To seek for honor in the world’s slough;
Where fortune reigns with hands of pride
This gilded triumph only knows to cow
The heart that wore honest truth inside.

For in the hidden joys of every hour
Is worth much sweeter than on thrones above;
The heart of fame doth fade, yet still the flower
That blooms in quiet is a charm of love.

• Coventry Patmore