{
 "id": "robert-w-service/the-woman-and-the-angel",
 "title": "The Woman and the Angel",
 "ordinal": null,
 "subtitle": null,
 "poet": "Robert W. Service",
 "poet_slug": "robert-w-service",
 "language": "en",
 "book": "Songs of a Sourdough",
 "book_slug": "songs-of-a-sourdough",
 "book_kind": "volume",
 "sequence": 27,
 "container": null,
 "epigraph": null,
 "first_published": {
  "year": 1907,
  "venue": "Songs of a Sourdough (1907)",
  "note": "First located printing is this volume; an earlier periodical printing has not been established.",
  "uncertain": false,
  "sources": [
   "https://archive.org/details/songsofsourdoug00serv"
  ]
 },
 "source": {
  "kind": "standard-ebooks",
  "repo": "standardebooks/robert-w-service_songs-of-a-sourdough",
  "file": "poetry.xhtml",
  "upstream": [
   "https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/25546",
   "https://archive.org/details/songsofsourdoug00serv"
  ],
  "rights": "public domain (SE dedication; underlying text pre-1931)"
 },
 "verification": {
  "level": "structural-only",
  "last_checked": "2026-08-20"
 },
 "stats": {
  "n_lines": 24,
  "n_stanzas": 6,
  "n_parts": 0,
  "longest_line_chars": 78,
  "max_indent": 0
 },
 "site_ready": true,
 "parts": [],
 "stanzas": [
  [
   {
    "text": "An angel was tired of heaven, as he lounged in the golden street;",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "His halo was tilted sideways, and his harp lay mute at his feet;",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "So the Master stooped in His pity, and gave him a pass to go,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "For the space of a moon, to the earth-world, to mix with the men below.",
    "indent": 0
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "He doffed his celestial garments, scarce waiting to lay them straight;",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "He bade goodbye to Peter, who stood by the golden gate;",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "The sexless singers of heaven chanted a fond farewell,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And the imps looked up as they pattered on the red-hot flags of hell.",
    "indent": 0
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "Never was seen such an angel: eyes of a heavenly blue,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Features that shamed Apollo, hair of a golden hue;",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "The women simply adored him, his lips were like Cupid’s bow;",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "But he never ventured to use them⁠—and so they voted him slow.",
    "indent": 0
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "Till at last there came One Woman, a marvel of loveliness,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And she whispered to him: “Do you love me?” And he answered that woman, “Yes.”",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And she said: “Put your arms around me, and kiss me, and hold me⁠—so⁠—”",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "But fiercely he drew back, saying: “This thing is wrong, and I know.”",
    "indent": 0
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "Then sweetly she mocked his scruples, and softly she him beguiled:",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "“You, who are verily man among men, speak with the tongue of a child.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "We have outlived the old standards; we have burst, like an over-tight thong,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "The ancient, outworn, puritanic traditions of Right and Wrong.”",
    "indent": 0
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "Then the Master feared for His angel, and called him again to His side,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "For oh, the woman was wondrous, and oh, the angel was tried.",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And deep in his hell sang the Devil, and this was the strain of his song:",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "“The ancient, outworn, puritanic traditions of Right and Wrong.”",
    "indent": 0
   }
  ]
 ]
}