The Angel in the House

by Coventry Patmore

Transcribed from the 1891 Cassell & Company edition by David Price, email ccx074@pglaf.org

CASSELL’S NATIONAL LIBRARY

THE
Angel in the House.

BY
COVENTRY PATMORE.

“Par la grace infinie, Dieu les mist au monde ensemble.”

Rousier des Dames.

CASSELL & COMPANY, Limited:
LONDON, PARIS & MELBOURNE.
1891.

THIS POEM
IS INSCRIBED
TO
THE MEMORY OF HER
BY WHOM AND FOR WHOM I BECAME A POET.

INTRODUCTION.

There could be but one answer to the suggestion of Mr. Coventry Patmore that his “Angel in the House” might usefully have a place in this “National Library.” The suggestion was made with the belief that wide and cheap diffusion would not take from the value of a copyright library edition, while the best use of writing is fulfilled by the spreading of verse dedicated to the sacred love of home. The two parts of the Poem appeared in 1854 and 1856, were afterwards elaborately revised, and have since obtained a permanent place among the Home Books of the English People. Our readers will join, surely, in thanks to the author for the present he has made us.

H. M.

CONTENTS

BOOK I.
			PAGE
		THE PROLOGUE.	[13]
CANTO
I.	THE CATHEDRAL CLOSE		[17]
	Preludes:
	1.	The Impossibility	[17]
	2.	Love’s Really	[17]
	3.	The Poet’s Confidence	[18]
	The Cathedral Close		[19]
II.	MARY AND MILDRED		[24]
	Preludes:
	1.	The Paragon	[24]
	2.	Love at Large	[26]
	3.	Love and Duty	[27]
	4.	A Distinction	[28]
	Mary and Mildred		[28]
III.	HONORIA		[32]
	Preludes:
	1.	The Lover	[32]
	2.	Love a Virtue	[34]
	3.	The Attainment	[34]
	Honoria		[35]
IV.	THE MORNING CALL		[39]
	Preludes:
	1.	The Rose of the World	[39]
	2.	The Tribute	[41]
	3.	Compensation	[42]
	The Morning Call		[42]
V.	THE VIOLETS		[46]
	Preludes:
	1.	The Comparison	[46]
	2.	Love in Tears	[48]
	3.	Prospective Faith	[48]
	4.	Venus Victrix	[49]
	The Violets		[49]
VI.	THE DEAN		[53]
	Preludes:
	1.	Perfect Love rare	[53]
	2.	Love Justified	[54]
	3.	Love Serviceable	[55]
	4.	A Riddle Solved	[56]
	The Dean		[56]
VII.	ÆTNA AND THE MOON		[60]
	Preludes:
	1.	Love’s Immortality	[60]
	2.	Heaven and Earth	[61]
	Ætna and the Moon		[62]
VIII.	SARUM PLAIN		[66]
	Preludes:
	1.	Life of Life	[66]
	2.	The Revelation	[67]
	3.	The Spirit’s Epochs	[67]
	4.	The Prototype	[68]
	5.	The Praise of Love	[68]
	Sarum Plain		[69]
IX.	SAHARA		[74]
	Preludes:
	1.	The Wife’s Tragedy	[74]
	2.	Common Graces	[75]
	3.	The Zest of Life	[76]
	4.	Fool and Wise	[76]
	Sahara		[77]
X.	CHURCH TO CHURCH		[81]
	Preludes:
	1.	The Joyful Wisdom	[81]
	2.	The Devices	[84]
	Going to Church		[84]
XI.	THE DANCE		[89]
	Preludes:
	1.	The Daughter of Eve	[89]
	2.	Aurea Dicta	[91]
	The Dance		[93]
XII.	THE ABDICATION		[97]
	Preludes:
	1.	The Chace	[97]
	2.	Denied	[100]
	3.	The Churl	[101]
	The Abdication		[102]
BOOK II.
	THE PROLOGUE		[105]
I.	ACCEPTED		[109]
	Preludes:
	1.	The Song of Songs	[109]
	2.	The Kites	[110]
	3.	Orpheus	[111]
	4.	Nearest the Dearest	[111]
	5.	Perspective	[112]
	Accepted		[112]
II.	THE COURSE OF TRUE LOVE		[116]
	Preludes:
	1.	The Changed Allegiance	[116]
	2.	Beauty	[120]
	3.	Lais and Lucretia	[120]
	The Course of True Love		[121]
III.	THE COUNTRY BALL		[126]
	Preludes:
	1.	Love Ceremonious	[126]
	2.	The Rainbow	[127]
	3.	A Paradox	[127]
	The County Ball		[128]
IV.	LOVE IN IDLENESS		[132]
	Preludes:
	1.	Honour and Desert	[132]
	2.	Love and Honour	[133]
	3.	Valour Misdirected	[134]
	Love in Idleness		[134]
V.	THE QUEEN’S ROOM		[139]
	Preludes:
	1.	Rejected	[139]
	2.	Rachel	[140]
	3.	The Heart’s Prophecies	[141]
	The Queen’s Room		[141]
VI.	THE LOVE-LETTERS		[145]
	Preludes:
	1.	Love’s Perversity	[145]
	2.	The Power of Love	[147]
	The Love-Letters		[148]
VII.	THE REVULSION		[152]
	Preludes:
	1.	Joy and Use	[152]
	2.	‘She was Mine’	[153]
	The Revulsion		[153]
VIII.	THE KOH-I-NOOR		[158]
	Preludes:
	1.	In Love	[158]
	2.	Love Thinking	[160]
	3.	The Kiss	[161]
	The Koh-i-noor		[161]
IX.	THE FRIENDS		[165]
	Preludes:
	1.	The Nursling of Civility	[165]
	2.	The Foreign Land	[166]
	3.	Disappointment	[166]
	The Friends		[167]
X.	THE EPITAPH		[170]
	Preludes:
	1.	Frost in Harvest	[170]
	2.	Felicity	[171]
	3.	Marriage Indissoluble	[172]
	The Epitaph		[172]
XI.	THE WEDDING		[176]
	Preludes:
	1.	Platonic Love	[176]
	2.	A Demonstration	[177]
	3.	The Symbol	[178]
	4.	Constancy Rewarded	[178]
	The Wedding		[179]
XII.	HUSBAND AND WIFE		[183]
	Preludes:
	1.	The Married Lover	[183]
	2.	The Amaranth	[184]
	Husband and Wife		[185]
	The Epilogue		[189]

Book I.