
Sitting atop a forsaken pile of feathers, this angel begins to saw off her own wings. What will she do now? I painted this image after reading the "The Eloping Angels: A Caprice" by William Watson. The basis of the story is that two angels decide to leave Heaven because they felt that perfect bliss did not allow them to feel the full range of human emotion. "I know no harsher ordinance of fate /Than the stagnation of your perfect state." So they decided to live on Earth where they could feel love and grief and pain and joy and all of the burdens of humanity. "They made the pangs of other hearts their own, /Feeling all pain they saw; and thus they bore /The burden of the universal moan,..." The idea of this caprice has always haunted me. I marvel at the angels that decide to forsake Heaven in order to live amongst humans. Who were these angels? What can I learn from them?
Copyright Misty Benson. All Rights Reserved.
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