Use of Angels in Smith's Annunciation and Plath's Dark Tower When It Rains Since biblical times, people have looked to angels as sources of solace, inspiration, protection and consolation. Yet very little is said in the Bible about what angels really are; the Bible focuses primarily on their actions and leaves their nature to the imagination. As a result, few people truly understand them, and the very notion of angels is a rather open idea, subject to personal interpretation and design. Poets, who never miss an opportunity for interpretation, have written about angels, using them both as subject and metaphor. Two notable poems in which angels are used as metaphors are "Annunciation," by Kay Smith, and "Black Rook in Rainy Weather," by Sylvia Plath. In these poems, angels are referenced not for themselves, but rather for the metaphorical meanings the reader can derive from them. In “Annunciation,” Smith uses an angel to represent the greatness left pursued but unattained in a life, while Plath uses angels to represent unusual events that brighten or add meaning to an otherwise dreary life. “Annunciation” begins with a note about standard artistic representation. of the Annunciation, in which the angel Gabriel appears to the Virgin Mary to declare to her that she will be the Mother of God. Smith notes that in paintings of the event, Mary is always reading a book; he seems to be trying to maintain his place in the book, despite Gabriel's arrival and large presence. In the poem, Smith herself paints a portrait of a young girl at a crossroads: two girls in a museum in Italy on some sort of journey. "We two sometimes women" (line 20) implies that the girls are quite young, but since they appear to be alone together they probably have... middle of paper ......veins into the lives of the faithful in times of trial . Plath uses angels as a metaphor for strength and hope in a time of darkness. Angels are so commonly perceived but poorly understood that many different meanings can be attributed to them. In poetry, angels can represent a spectrum of ideas and feelings, from wonder to hope, from strength to fear, to list a few examples. In “Annunciation,” Kay Smith uses the majesty and biblical significance of the angel Gabriel to represent a feeling of greatness and destiny that the speaker has let slip. In “Black Rook in Rainy Weather,” Sylvia Plath uses angels to symbolize the brightness and hope that makes an otherwise bleak and sad life livable. Clearly, angels, like our own lives, can have whatever meaning we choose to ascribe to them." In the arms of angels, may you find some comfort here."