It Was Wrong to Do This, Said the Angel
It Was Wrong to Do This, Said the Angel - meaning Summary
Inverting Moral Authority
The poem stages a brief exchange in which an angel reproves a man, urging gentle, innocent behavior, while the man retorts that those qualities suit angels, not humans. The reversal highlights different moral expectations: the angel prescribes idealized conduct; the man asserts a pragmatic distinction between celestial purity and human reality. The poem quietly questions moral absolutism and suggests empathy for human imperfection.
Read Complete Analyses'It was wrong to do this,' said the angel. 'You should live like a flower, Holding malice like a puppy, Waging war like a lambkin.' 'Not so,' quoth the man Who had no fear of spirits; 'It is only wrong for angels Who can live like the flowers, Holding malice like the puppies, Waging war like the lambkins.'
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