Adelaide Anne Procter ( 1825 – 1864) was an English poet and philanthropist. She worked on behalf of a number of causes, most prominently on behalf of
unemployed women and the homeless, and was actively involved with feminist
groups and journals. Procter never married, and some of her poetry has prompted
speculation that she was a lesbian. She suffered from ill health, possibly due
to her charity work, and died of tuberculosis at the age of 38.
Procter's literary career began when she
was a teenager; her poems were primarily published in Charles Dickens's
periodicals Household Words and All the Year Round and later published in book
form. Her charity work and her conversion to Roman Catholicism appear to have
strongly influenced her poetry, which deals most commonly with such subjects as
homelessness, poverty, and fallen women.
Procter was the favourite poet of Queen
Victoria. Her poetry went through numerous editions in the 19th century;
Coventry Patmore[1] called her the most popular poet of the day, after Alfred,
Lord Tennyson. Her poems were set to music and made into hymns, and were
published in the United States and Germany as well as in England. Nonetheless,
by the early 20th century her reputation had diminished, and few modern critics
have given her work attention. Those who have, however, argue that Procter's
work is significant, in part for what it reveals about how Victorian women
expressed otherwise repressed feelings.
My God, I thank Thee, who hast made
The earth so bright,
So full of splendor and of joy,
Beauty and light;
So many glorious things are here,
Noble and right.
I thank Thee, too, that Thou hast made
Joy to abound;
So many gentle thoughts and deeds
Circling us round,
That in the darkest spot of earth
Some love is found.
I thank Thee more that all our joy
Is touched with pain,
That shadows fall on brightest hours,
That thorns remain;
So that earth’s bliss may be our guide,
And not our chain.
For thou who knowest, Lord, how soon
Our weak heart clings,
Hast given us joys, tender and true,
Yet all with wings;
So that we see gleaming on high
Diviner things.
I thank Thee, Lord, that Thou hast kept
The best in store;
We have enough, yet not too much
To long for more:
A yearning for a deeper peace
Not known before.
I thank Thee, Lord, that here our souls
Though amply blessed,
Can never find, although they seek
A perfect rest;
Nor ever shall, until they lean
On Jesus’ breast.
[1]Coventry
Kersey Dighton Patmore (1823 - 1896) was an English poet and critic best known
for The Angel in the House, his narrative poem about an ideal happy marriage.
Patmore's
wife Emily, the model for the "Angel in the House"
