The Revelation

The Revelation

By Coventry Patmore 1823–1896 Coventry Patmore
An idle poet, here and there,
    Looks round him; but, for all the rest,
The world, unfathomably fair,
    Is duller than a witling’s jest.
Love wakes men, once a lifetime each;
    They lift their heavy lids, and look;
And, lo, what one sweet page can teach,
    They read with joy, then shut the book.
And some give thanks, and some blaspheme
    And most forget; but, either way,
That and the Child’s unheeded dream
Is all the light of all their day.   

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Poet Coventry Patmore 1823–1896

POET’S REGION England

SCHOOL / PERIOD Victorian

Subjects Arts & Sciences, Marriage & Companionship, Relationships, Reading & Books, Living, Love, Poetry & Poets, Classic Love, Heartache & Loss

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Biography

Victorian poet and critic Coventry Patmore was born into a literary household in Essex, England. His father, editor and novelist Peter George Patmore, educated his son, sent him to Paris when he was 16, and encouraged him to publish his first book, Poems (1844). Coventry Patmore’s subsequent collections of poetry include Tamerton Church Tower (1853) and The Angel in the House—composed of four volumes: The Betrothal (1854), The . . .

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Poems by Coventry Patmore

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Poem Categorization

SUBJECT Arts & Sciences, Marriage & Companionship, Relationships, Reading & Books, Living, Love, Poetry & Poets, Classic Love, Heartache & Loss

POET’S REGION England

SCHOOL / PERIOD Victorian

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Originally appeared in Poetry magazine.

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