The Angel World And Other Poems is a collection of 17 poems written by Philip James Bailey: The Angle World (77 pages), The Return (3 pages), Hymn of Thanks (2 pages), Autumn (3 pages), The Ring (3 pages), To The Trent (3 pages), An Ancient Legend (5 page), London (1 page), A Ruin (1 page), A Fragment (2 pages), Lovers (1 page), A Myth (1 page), Morning (4 pages), A Mystery (1 page), Prayer (2 pages), Hymn (2 pages), and Knowledge (3 pages); many of these poems have a religious theme, relating to Heaven, the Angels, and God.

The Angel World is a poem that describes an Angel’s battle against a demon. The poem starts off describing the Angel’s world (Heaven) as a beautiful place. The Angels themselves are also beautiful and they are sinless and divine. Eventually this beautiful realm fell under the control of Tempters and Demons and became miserable and desolate. However, in the end, the Angel was able to successfully defeat the Demon and restore his beloved ones and his world to their former, pure and beautiful selves.

The Return is a poem about the return of people from all nations to God when they die. The poem describes the many different parts of the world where people live: the place where trees thrive, the place where people mine silver and gold, the place where gems are found, the place where coral grows ect… Even with all of these different backgrounds, everyone on earth is related through God. When people on this earth die, they will all reunite with one another in heaven.

The Hymn of Thanks is a poem that gives praise and thanks to God, in particular Jesus Christ, for sacrificing pain in order to save us; Jesus went through a lot of pain and temptation while he was man on Earth. Because of this, Jesus understands the pain that humans suffer, allowing people to turn to him when we need help.

Autumn describes the change in nature from the summer season to the fall season. Summer, in terms of nature, is analogous to a strong warrior; summer is nature’s “prime” moment just like being a “strong warrior” is the “prime time” in a man’s life. Autumn is when nature starts to “die.” Chilling rains fall, clouds form, and woods and leaves start to fall. This poem compares autumn to a warrior getting sick, tired and dying.

The Ring is a Ballard that talks about the marriage of a Venetian maid and a man. The man tells the maid that he truly loves her and he will risk his body and soul for her; he then asks her what she wants for his hand in marriage. The maid replies that a bridal ring is good enough and that they should wed at sea. While both of them were at sea with the Doge, the Venetian “duke,” the bride accidentally drops her bridal ring off the boat. The man jumps into the sea and retrieves the ring successfully but dies in the process. The maid weeps for her husband, claiming that she can not love another man. The maid eventually dies and they buried the bridal ring with her body.

To the Trent is an ode to a river in central England. The speaker in the poem declares his love for the Trent; the best moments of his life were spent at the Trent, relaxing at its bank and admiring the reflection of the sun on its waters. An interesting thing that the speaker states is that he loves the Trent even more when heavy rains come and the Trent floods, invading and destroying villages and towns. He states flooding is when she exerts her will over men and animal, like God, her creator, in heaven.

An Ancient Legend is a poem that retells the story behind a rock in a small town. The rock was originally the “crown” of a church. One day when the town gathered at the church to worship, a demon appeared and attacked the church. He ripped the stone from its resting place and killed the minister with it. Saint Wilfred then stood up and confronted the demon. He states that God and the Saints will always protect the church and the faithful. The demon then left the church in rage and the stone is lying where the demon left it.

London is an ode to the city London. The speaker praises London for its rich history and beautiful architecture, and states that London is the most beautiful city in the world; it is the best art that man can make. The speaker also tells God to look at London and its hundreds of shrines and churches. The speaker acknowledges that hundreds of shrines are too few for God but that does not prevent London, and the world, from praising God.

A Ruin is a poem that describes a deserted abbey. It states that it is strange for a house that is vowed to God to be hurled down and in shambles. The poem then compares this abbey to man, both are mortal and non-everlasting; this can be broaden up to the statement that nothing on Earth is everlasting, only God is.

A Fragment starts of with a person describing how he sees temples going to the heavens, which represents how good and virtuous people go to heaven and are rewarded by God when they die. In contrast, the poem later on describes how evildoers are punished by God when they die. In conclusion, all of us have the free will to choose between good and evil and the choices we make will decide where we will go after we die.

The poem Lovers refers to the relationship between a rose and a nightingale; the rose cries for the nightingale so the nightingale comes and “dries her tears.” The poem then says how the rose will always be happy with the nightingale, even when the world grows weary. This can mean be interpreted as true love can lead to eternal happiness.

A Myth introduces with the sun god Apollo leaving his lyre on a stone, thus granting the stone (earth) and mankind the great gift of his divine music. Once man is touched by the divine, his questions will be answered, he will be in harmony, and he will be able to relax.

Morning is a poem with four parts. The first part describes the sun as a sun goddess on rosy chariot that flies over the sleeping earth. Part 2 describes the goddess’ great splendor and power, spreading light to the earth. Part 2 also compares the sun to an eagle that flies proudly around the earth as the “king of birds.” Part 3 praises the sun goddess for bringing light and life to the earth. Part 4 mourns over the goddess since she will not be there forever; she flies around the earth, making some parts of it morning and other parts of it night.

In A Mystery a person is talking to his friend, saying that it has been a long time since they last met. The person then talks about how they may not meet anymore until they die and go to heaven. The Mystery to this person is that during life, everyone is bounded and united by destiny and fate. At death, everyone is separated but death is also an act of fate. Many will try to contemplate fate and destiny but almost none will understand.

Prayer is a poem telling all men to worship and praise God the Creator. God created the universe so he is powerful and almighty. However even with this lofty stature, every human being is connected to him (God) and this connection is very important. The poem then talks about the end of the universe when “elements … fail, and burning systems stiffen or depart into their graves of darkness and decay.” At this time, man will be restored to his true nature and he will be with God forever.

Hymn is a poem that describes and praises Jesus Christ, savior of the world. Jesus is the Lord of armies, Prince of Peace, the sun of righteousness, the star of wisdom, and the owner of all things: kings, priests, emperors, masters ect… However even with this lofty stature, Jesus came down, became a lowly man and sacrificed himself for our sins. Because of this, he is greatly rewarded and exalted.

Knowledge is a poem describing the knowledge and wisdom of God. God knows when the world will end and drift off into empty space; God makes, destroys and saves. In order to understand this, people will have to read the “runes of old,” which is an extremely hard and strenuous process. However, people do not need to know this. All that we need to know is that we will die one day. When we die, we will rejoice with our all-knowing God in heaven.