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READ THIS
This is a poem about love and loss. It is centred on the death of a loved one (or of an imaginary loved
one) some 15 years previously. The poet says she is only just getting over the death, yet she has
convinced herself that she will never feel whole again without her loved one, cannot face the empty world
without him by her side.
A NOTE ON THE POET
Emily Brontë was born in Thornton, Yorkshire, in July 1818. She was the fourth daughter of six
children. In 1824, the family moved to the bleak village of Haworth, where Emily's father was appointed
rector of the local church.
Upon the death of her mother, Emily was sent for a time to the Clergy Daughters' School at Cowan Bridge,
a place that developed a reputation for abuse. She was removed from the school, however, when a
typhus epidemic broke out. Emily's sister, Elizabeth, would die of it -- although some commentaries
put it down to tuberculosis.
The remaining sisters and their brother Patrick Branwell Brontë would then be home-schooled by
their father and an aunt. The children created bizarre stories of adventure and fantasy for their own
amusement, and often acted them out. They also penned numerous poems.
While in her late teens, Emily was sent to the Roe Head girls' school but her life of isolation in Haworth
did not equip her to socialise. She was soon troubled by homesickness and, after only three months, she
returned to the seclusion of Haworth once more.
At the age of 20, Emily began work as a teacher in Halifax but the very long working hours -- sometimes
as much as 17 hours a day -- broke her health and she once again returned home. She now remained
with the family, while venturing out only occasionally.
In the meantime, the three sisters -- Charlotte, Emily and Anne -- had written numerous poetry. In 1847,
Emily was persuaded to publish hers as part of a volume of poetry called Poems by Currer, Ellis, and
Acton Bell.
The names "Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell" were nom de plumes in a world where only men
published. Emily chose "Ellis Bell" as her name.
Later that same year, Emily published her one and only novel, Wuthering Heights, a bleak tale
of doomed romance set in the dark and windswept moors of Yorkshire. The book would be condemned
because of the heated passion portrayed between Heathcliff and Catherine Earnshaw.
The Brontë home was situated next to the town's graveyard and their drinking water was polluted
by the decaying bodies. It is possible that Emily's health declined steadily as a result.
She died in December 1848, although cause of death is usually given as tuberculosis. She was buried
in the family vault within the village graveyard. She was then just 30 years of age.
Have you looked at the questions
in the right column?
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TEST YOURSELF!
Read the left column and then answer
the following questions:
"Cold in the earth -- and the deep snow piled above thee,
Far, far removed, cold in the dreary grave!"
- Quote each of the times in which the poet makes a reference to its being cold. Explain each
case. (6)
[Need help?]
"Cold in the earth" -- the person is dead, his body is cold in death.
"the deep snow piled above thee" -- not only is the body cold in death but the season is also the
bitter cold of winter.
"cold in the dreary grave!" -- the grave is a place of death and therefore a cold, bitter place.
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- What does the poet mean when she says "Far, far removed"? Why does she repeat the word
"far"? (4)
[Need help?]
Death is the exact opposite of life, an infinity away. The repetition of "Far, far" attempts to capture
that distance between life and death.
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- Why is the grave said to be a "dreary grave"? Alternative: one prescribed anthology prints it
as a "dreamy grave". Would that make any sense? (2)
[Need help?]
The word "dreary" conjures up ideas such as joyless, depressing, grim, drab, etc. Since the grave
is a place to house the dead, it therefore conjures up ideas that are exactly opposite to life.
Alternative: Death is often spoken of as an eternal sleep. With sleep comes dreams. A grave may
therefore be said to be a "dreamy grave".
It must be said, however, that all versions of this poem found on the Internet speak of a "dreary
grave" which means that the current prescribed book is incorrect.
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"Have I forgot, my only Love, to love thee,
Severed at last by Time's all-severing wave?"
- Is the poet speaking of the young man in the grave as being her lover? (6)
[Need help?]
Possibly and possibly not.
The poet could be referring to a person whom she knew when they were both children -- or imagined she
knew -- and whom she loved as a best friend. In its pure chronological setting, the boy could NOT have
been more than about 13 when he died, possibly younger.
One has to bear in mind, however, that Emily Brontë had a vivid imagination, as can be seen if one
reads Wuthering Heights. It is quite possible therefore that the setting in this poem -- including
her loved one -- is the product of her imagination. He might therefore have been her imaginary lover.
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- What does she mean when she asks, "Have I forgot . . . to love thee?"? (4)
[Need help?]
It is very difficult to remember a person each and every minute of the day once that person has died. And
yet the poet appears to be troubled lest, because he might not have been in her thoughts enough, she
might be regarded as having been unfaithful to the memory of him.
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- Comment on the double mention of "severed" / "severing". What implication does the
poet put on this word? (4)
[Need help?]
"Severed" means to be totally separated from someone or something, to have had the ties cut with
that person. Already the dead person has been severed from her in death, but she is afraid that he might
still be doubly severed from her by her failure to remember him
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- Why does the poet use the upper-case for "Time"? What does one call this language
device? (4)
[Need help?]
This is PERSONIFICATION, is it not? Time is personified, it becomes a person: "The Grim
Reaper" who uses his scythe to sever a person from life.
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"Now, when alone, do my thoughts no longer hover
Over the mountains, on that northern shore,
Resting their wings where heath and fern leaves cover
Thy noble heart forever, ever more?"
- What answer is the poet expecting when she asks, "Do my thoughts no longer hover | Over the
mountains?" (2)
[Need help?]
The poet is hoping that the spirit of the dead person will reassure her that her thoughts of him do indeed
hover over the mountains. She needs reassurance that she has not forgotten him.
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- Why does the poet use the words, "Resting their wings"? (2)
[Need help?]
The poet is using the metaphor of her soul flying, hovering over the moors (i.e. hills or mountains). To do
this entails the image of her spirit having wings.
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