Best Poems of the Brontë Sisters

By Emily Bronte, Charlotte Bronte and Anne Brontë

"In this collection of their poetry, published under gender-concealing pseudonyms, we get an intimate glimpse of their fears, hopes, faith, and desires." — Haunted Library
"This collection is not only for fans of the Brontë Sisters and classic rhyming poetry but also for readers that crave heartbreaking gothic angst." — Eastside Middle School
Among the most talented siblings in English literary history, the Brontë sisters are best remembered for their novels: Emily's Wuthering Heights, Charlotte's Jane Eyre, and Anne's Tenant of Wildfell Hall, among other works. It is less well known that the sisters also composed a considerable amount of fine poetry.
This volume contains forty-seven poems by all three sisters. Selections include Charlotte's "Presentiment," "Passion," two poems on the deaths of her sisters, and six more. There are twenty-three poems by Emily (considered the best poet of the three), including "Faith and Despondency" and "No Coward Soul Is Mine." The works of all three sisters share the qualities of intelligence, awareness, and heartfelt emotion, expressed in simple, highly readable verse. Gathered in this handy, inexpensive collection, the poems represent a superb introduction to a lesser-known aspect of the Brontës' literary art.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Dover Publications
• Release date: Nov 24, 2015
• ISBN: 9780486159591

Emily Bronte

Emily Brontë (1818-1848) was an English novelist and poet known famously for her only novel, Wuthering Heights. The work was originally published in a three-volume set alongside the work of her sister Anne. Due to the politics of the time, she and her sister were given the names Ellis and Acton Bell as pseudonyms. It wasn’t until 1850 that their real names were printed on their respective works. The initial reception of Wuthering Heights by the public was not favorable. Many readers were confused by the novel structure—they had not previously encountered a frame narrative (story-within-a-story) as unique as that of Wuthering Heights. Emily Brontë died from tuberculosis at age thirty, only a year after the publication of her landmark book. Alas, she didn’t live long enough to revel in its legacy; the book later became an iconic work of English literature.

Book preview

CHARLOTTE BRONTË

The Letter

What is she writing? Watch her now,

How fast her fingers move!

How eagerly her youthful brow

Is bent in thought above!

Her long curls, drooping, shade the light,

She puts them quick aside,

Nor knows, that band of crystals bright,

Her hasty touch untied.

It slips adown her silken dress,

Falls glittering at her feet;

Unmarked it falls, for she no less

Pursues her labour sweet.

The very loveliest hour that shines,

Is in that deep blue sky;

The golden sun of June declines,

It has not caught her eye.

The cheerful lawn, and unclosed gate,

The white road, far away,

In vain for her light footsteps wait,

She comes not forth to-day.

There is an open door of glass

Close by that lady’s chair,

From thence, to slopes of mossy grass,

Descends a marble stair.

Tall plants of bright and spicy bloom

Around the threshold grow;

Their leaves and blossoms shade the room,

From that sun’s deepening glow.

Why does she not a moment glance

Between the clustering flowers,

And mark in heaven the radiant dance

Of evening’s rosy hours?

O look again! Still fixed her eye,

Unsmiling, earnest, still,

And fast her pen and fingers fly,

Urged by her eager will.

Her soul is in th’ absorbing task;

To whom, then, doth she write?

Nay, watch her still more closely, ask

Her own eyes’ serious light;

Where do they turn, as now her pen

Hangs o’er th’ unfinished line?

Whence fell the tearful gleam that then

Did in their dark spheres shine?

The summer-parlour looks so dark,

When from that sky you turn,

And from th’ expanse of that green park,

You scarce may aught discern.

Yet o’er the piles of porcelain rare,

O’er flower-stand, couch, and vase,

Sloped, as if leaning on the air,

One picture meets the gaze.

Tis there she turns; you may not see

Distinct, what form defines

The clouded mass of mystery

Yon broad gold frame confines.

But look again; inured to shade

Your eyes now faintly trace

A stalwart form, a massive head,

A firm, determined face.

Black Spanish locks, a sunburnt cheek,

A brow high, broad, and white,

Where every furrow seems to speak

Of mind and moral might.

Is that her god? I cannot tell;

Her eye a moment met

Th’ impending picture, then it fell

Darkened and dimmed and wet.

A moment more, her task is done,

And sealed the letter lies;

And now, towards the setting sun

She turns her tearful eyes.

Those tears flow over, wonder not,

For by the inscription,

Reviews for Best Poems of the Brontë Sisters

[jamesfallen · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I enjoyed many of the poems. Others not so well.

[luli81_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Great selection of poems by the Brontë Sisters, a style in which the sisters are less known.I didn't enjoy Wuthering Heights that much, but I loved Emily's poems. She was maybe the most daring of the sisters in her dramatic and mystical apporaches to tabu subjects such as suicide or obsession.Not to be missed for those who want to know more about the Brontë's or their work.