SOME have interpreted this passage as referring to the effects
of female beauty upon the angels. —Christmas.
The angels in art and poetry present a field of almost inexhaustible
richness. It abounds with conceptions of exquisite
beauty and purity, of inspiring poetry and miracles of art.
Angels belong to monotheism alone. The polytheists of
Greece and Rome knew them not. The winged beings carved on
the walls of Egyptian temples or on the slabs of Assyrian palaces
are not angels, any more than are the naiads, dryads, or winged
genii of Greece. How different is their waywardness from the
serene holy obedience of the host of heaven! "The chariots of
God are twenty thousand, even thousands of angels." Nations
who have realized the unity of God and His irrevocable will
delighted to think of armies of radiant, obedient spirits stronger
than men, superior to their weaknesses, messengers, guardians,
and ambassadors between heaven and earth.
It may cause us surprise to remember that the earliest representations
of angels (as we understand the word) are as late as
the beginning of the fifth century A. D. ; contemporaiy therefore
with St. Ambrose at Milan, and with the words of the Te Deum :
"To Thee all angels cry aloud." I know of none earlier than
the mosaics in the churches of St. Agatha and St. Michele at
Ravenna. There they are figured as stately Romanesque princes,
carrying long silver scepters, and with grand pinions on their
shoulders. Angels in art are sexless. If in earlier days they
had more of the attribute of manly strength, in later times they
excel in womanly sweetness. They are never bearded, and while
Michael and his legions have frequently richly wrought armor,
and Gabriel is often in priestly robes, most angels wear distinctly
feminine dress. In sculpture a difficulty arises, less felt in
painting, as to the joining of the wings to the body. The clothes
have to be pierced for the wings to appear.
Angels are literally "sent ones," to guide, rebuke or console.
They bring good tidings, warn, and even punish. They are guardian
spirits and of higher nature than man's, absolute in their
obedience, spotless in their beauty, countless in their numbers.
They are especially present at the Nativity, singing carols to
the startled shepherds, bending with rapture over the scene at
the manger, as Milton sings:
"Round about the courtly stable
Bright-harnessed angels stand in order serviceable. ''
—From "Angels in Art and Poetry."
Figuratively, in the style of love, the name of angel is applied
to a beautiful person, as a synonym of perfection. —Zell's Encyclopedia.
Angels listen when she speaks.
—Rochester.
And yet a spirit still and bright
With something of an angel light !
—Wordsworth.
She was good as she was fair,
As pure in thought as angels are.
—Samuel Rogers.
