The Visionary

Emily Jane Brontë 1818 (Thornton) – 1848 (Haworth)



Silent is the house: all are laid asleep:  
One alone looks out o’er the snow-wreaths deep,  
Watching every cloud, dreading every breeze  
That whirls the wildering drift, and bends the groaning trees.  
 
Cheerful is the hearth, soft the matted floor;          
Not one shivering gust creeps through pane or door;  
The little lamp burns straight, its rays shoot strong and far:  
I trim it well, to be the wanderer’s guiding-star.  
 
Frown, my haughty sire! chide, my angry dame!  
Set your slaves to spy; threaten me with shame:         
But neither sire nor dame nor prying serf shall know,  
What angel nightly tracks that waste of frozen snow.  
 
What I love shall come like visitant of air,  
Safe in secret power from lurking human snare;  
What loves me, no word of mine shall e’er betray,        
Though for faith unstained my life must forfeit pay.  
 
Burn, then, little lamp; glimmer straight and clear—  
Hush! a rustling wing stirs, methinks, the air:  
He for whom I wait, thus ever comes to me;  
Strange Power! I trust thy might; trust thou my constancy.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

53 sec read
40

Quick analysis:

Scheme AABB CCDD EEFF GGHH XGII
Closest metre Iambic hexameter
Characters 1,068
Words 179
Stanzas 5
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4

Emily Jane Brontë

Emily Jane Brontë was an English novelist and poet who is best known for her only novel, Wuthering Heights, now considered a classic of English literature. She also published one book of poetry with her sisters Charlotte and Anne titled Poems by Currer, Ellis and Acton Bell with her own poems finding regard as poetic genius. Emily was the third-eldest of the four surviving Brontë siblings, between the youngest Anne and her brother Branwell. She published under the pen name Ellis Bell. more…

All Emily Jane Brontë poems | Emily Jane Brontë Books

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