STEVIE SMITH’S ANGELS

Resumo

Angels appear regularly in Stevie Smith’s poems and drawings. The latter show disturbing, cruel or cynical figures, whereas the former exhibit a wider range of considerations. Nevertheless, the predominant sensation is that angels are rather disquieting than helpful beings. Thus an uneasy tension is created between God and (His) angels who, according to traditional lore, are His messengers, therefore subordinated to Him. In Stevie Smith’s poems angels do not in general fit regularly in the orthodox pattern. The purpose of this paper is to analyze these contradictory insights and to examine the accompanying drawings. A classification of different “types” of angels is presented, which does not necessarily match the categories known through traditional angelology. Since discussions of Stevie Smith’s stance as regards religious feeling and dogma are accessible in an extensive bibliography I intend rather to contribute a specific treatment of angels within the general framework of Stevie Smith’s concern with religion.