Sunday, June 29, 2008

CHARLOTTE BRONTE


CHARLOTTE BRONTE 1816-1855

Charlotte was the oldest of the three Bronte sisters. Growing up in Victorian England, Charlotte and her sisters were inspired by the Romantic authors of the particular era. Charlotte used the pen name of Currer Bell when she wrote. One of the more famous works of Charlotte Bronte was “Jane Eyre”. Along with Jane Eyre, Bronte wrote several poems.
I read Charlotte’s poem about her sister, Emma’s death. I believe she is using the four seasons as the different parts of Emma’s life. In the first four lines of the poem she writes:
"Sister, you've sat there all the day,

Come to the hearth awhile;

The wind so wildly sweeps away,

The clouds so darkly pile…”
In this passage I believe that Charlotte is referring to it being cold at night and her sister has sit looking outside, waiting and wondering when she could go outside and play. I believe this is when Emma was just a small child. Charlotte invited her sister to come and sit with her next to the fire because the wind is blowing the clouds to a thick, dark look.
In the last paragraph of this poem Charlotte writes:
“The snow will whiten earth again,

But Emma comes no more;

She left, 'mid winter's sleet and rain,

This world for Heaven's far shore.

On Beulah's hills she wanders now,

On Eden's tranquil plain…”
This is the clear statement of the end of Emma’s life. It appears from reading this passage that Emma died before the last snow of the season. When she writes that the snow will come again, but Emma [Emily] will not because she has left the world and goes to heaven where she is wondering threw Beulah and through Eden. Emily did die in December, many times before the first snow.
There is no doubt to me that Charlotte loves her sister and will miss her now since she has died. She talks about how her sister will be missed now she had died. She refers to how her sister filled her heart with happiness because they played together in the fields. Charlotte talks about being on and eternal journey to see her sister Emma again. Walk with her for eternity.
I personally would like to have a relationship with my siblings like Charlotte and her sisters have. I would like to think that my siblings would write such compassion about their love for me, as Charlotte wrote about her sister.

2 comments:

Jonathan.Glance said...

Mike,

Some good remarks on Charlotte Brontë's poem about the death of Emily (not Emma). I like the way you quote and discuss particular passages from the poem, although I would like to see more analysis. As a rule of thumb, your discussion of a passage ought to be at least as long as the passage itself.

PYT said...

I think this is very interesting to read because most people didn't write on Charlotte Bronte. Jane Eyre being her most famous work I wouldn't think there would be time for her to have written poetry at all. But the poetry she did write seemed to be along a similar writing style.