Poem by Ellis Parker Butler

A Lost Angel

When first we met she seemed so white
    I feared her;
As one might near a spirit bright
    I neared her;
An angel pure from heaven above
    I dreamed her,
And far too good for human love
    I deemed her.
A spirit free from mortal taint
    I thought her,
And incense as unto a saint
    I brought her.

Well, incense burning did not seem
    To please her,
And insolence I feared she’d deem
    To squeeze her;
Nor did I dare for that same why
    To kiss her,
Lest, shocked, she’d cause my eager eye
    To miss her.
I sickened thinking of some way
    To win her,
When lo! she asked me, one fine day,
    To dinner!

Twas thus that made of common flesh
    I found her,
And in a mortal lover’s mesh
    I wound her.
Embraces, kisses, loving looks
    I gave her,
And buying bon-bons, flowers and books,
    I save her;
For her few honest, human taints
    I love her,
Nor would I change for all the saints
    Above her
Those eyes, that little face, that so
    Endear her,
And all the human joy I know
    When near her;
And I am glad, when to my breast
    I press her,
She’s just a woman, like the rest,
    God bless her!

1. Jabed Meeker, Humorist
2. New England Magazine
3. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
4. To Marguerite
5. To May

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