British Literature

March 8, 2012

Anne Bronte

Anne Bronte was the youngest of the Bronte family members, and a remarkable British poet, even though her sisters overshadowed her talent. She had a very short life, born in January 17, 1820 and died in May 28, 1849 form tuberculosis. Anne and her family lived through many difficult experiences like the death of her mother Maria Branwell Bronte, followed by the death of her older sisters, and how Anne suffered from the illness that ultimately took her life. Due to these unfortunates losses Anne’s father Patrick Bronte decided to educate his children at home in an environment were they are less exposed to illness. However, he did not raise the Bronte children alone, he had the help of his wife’s sister, Elizabeth Branwell. Anne was very close to her siblings because they had little contact with the outside world, and together they went through many joyful moments. Anne and sister Emily had a strong bond and she influenced Anne’s writing because they wrote poems together. The Bronte sisters used poetry to express their feelings and thoughts. Within Anne’s poems “Farewell”, “A Hymn”, “My God! O Let Me Call Thee Mine”, “Weep not much”, and “In Memory of a Happy Day in February”, the reader can identify aspects of Anne’s radical character. Anne’s poems are considered controversial for the time period in which they were written because she talked about divorce and questioned God. People today can identify with her poems because today’s readers are more accustomed to the ideas portrayed through Anne’s writing. Everyone who endures life has the misfortune of experiencing death through the loss of a loved one and even though we deal with it in different ways we all feel pain. Anne’s poems were unusual to her time period because women were not supposed to have such radical opinions; however, it is logical that she thinks this way after having lived through such difficult situations.

The poem “Farewell” is one of Anne’s most famous poems, in which she describes the terrible feeling of loosing a loved one. The reader can tell that the author is familiar to this topic because the author manifests her past experiences through her writing. The message of the poem is that if someone close to you passes away, you will still have the joyful memories of the time you spent together. Due to the fact that Anne was so young to remember when her mother and two older sisters died, the reader can infer that she is talking about Emily’s death. However, the author of the poem manages to talk about death with a hopeful tone, which is implied to the reader by her choice of words. For instance, in line four of the poem “Farewell” Anne Bronte said “they shall cheer and comfort me.” This quote means that the author is consoled and comforted by the pleasant memories she has of the person she lost. The author also uses the word memory frequently in the poem, with this she wants to make clear that she finds hope of healing her pain by preserving the memory of this person. Nevertheless, the poem also has a sad tone, because even though she has the memories to cheer her up she still has to say goodbye. This glumness is shown on line twenty one when Anne said “Adieu”, meaning that she is saying goodbye to this person, whom she cared for and is never going to see again. The use of the words anguish and tears convey the sad tone in the poem, which demonstrates to the reader the pain Anne felt in this difficult moment of her life. It is a fact that Anne tried her best to hold on to the good times she had with the departed person.

Anne Bronte has a radical voice in the poem “The Hymn” where she expresses her doubt about God. The author questions Gods existence because of the spiritual crisis she was going through. In the Victorian era, the Bronte family tragedy was not rare because not many people live past age of thirty; however, it does not mean it was less painful. It is a fact that these events had an impact on Anne’s drastic voice and influenced her personality. Her poems are considered inappropriate for her time period because she was not afraid to talk about topics that were considered too controversial. For instance, in the poem the hymn she questions God, and this was not well seen by the society she lived in. In line seven when she said, “And if indeed thy Son was sent.” The word if in this quote questions weather Jesus was really sent to save us. The reader can also identify Anne’s desperate voice in the poem “The Hymn” in line 17 when she said “While Faith is with me I am blest; It turns my darkest night to day.” This means that she wants to believe in God because that will bring her comfort and bring her peace. Nevertheless, she cannot find the faith she is praying for desperately, as the reader can see in line nineteen when Anne said “But while I clasp it to my breast
 I often feel it slide away.” This quote clearly states that instead of feeling closer to God her faith is sliding away. Anne used dark words such as cry, anguish, cold, death, and tears to create a depressed voice, she wrote this poem at age fifteen, in her time at Roe Head, the school where she studied for two years. This was a difficult time for Anne because she became ill with gastritis. A minister visited Anne a few times during her illness with the purpose of converting Anne in a believer of god again.

In her poems Anne Bronte was able to transmit her sad and strong feelings to the readers. Her message is always clear because she uses literary devices to support her subject and mood. For instance in the poem “My God! O let me call Thee mine!” Anne uses a strict rhyme scheme patter, which makes the poem smooth. The rhythm of the poem forms a metrical pattern and makes the poem flow. Both the rhyme scheme and rhythm of the poem help create the calm mood of this poem. Another literary device Anne uses in her poem is alliteration, which makes the sound of the poem better and also influences the mood of the poem. For example, in line four when she said, “feeble faith” and “future fills” among others. However, Anne uses repetition in line fourteen when she said “O, do not leave me desolate! O, do not leave me desolate!” With this Anne is asking God for mercy and companionship because she had little faith in him at a certain point of her life. Nevertheless, she understood he is real and she is talking to him through this poem. The use of Repetition in the poem supports the subject by giving emphasis on that line to make her message clearer for the reader.

Anne’s poems make the readers identify themselves with the topic because she makes them picture and imagine the situation. Anne Bronte has a skill to transmit her feelings to the public and make them feel the same way she did. However, she accomplished this by using figures of speech that enhance the meaning of the poem. For example, in line nine of the poem “In Memory of a Happy Day in February” the author said, “Was it the smile of early spring.” In this quote the author is giving a human characteristic to something that is nonhuman, spring is a season and is not able to smile. Nevertheless, personification makes the poem more dramatic and it also helps to set the mood of the poem. Personification makes the message easier to understand because people tend to relate to things that have human characteristics. In addition to personification, in this poem the author also uses imagery to make the reader imagine what she is saying. For example in line seven when she said, “The sun shone on the withered grass, 
the wind blew fresh and free.” This quote makes the reader picture the sun shining and the fresh blow of the wind. Another figure of speech used by Anne is symbolism, which is when something represents something else. For example in the poem “Weep Not Too Much”, Anne uses prison grating as a symbol of the dark and sad side of life, and the moonbeams that shine represent the bright side of life. Symbolism simplifies the author’s message because it narrows down a complex idea in a single word.

Anne Bronte used poetry as a means of conveying her points of view; in each of her poems the reader can identify aspects of Anne’s personality. In Anne’s writings she defends the position of women in society in a time where women were considered inferior. Even though the time period she lived in affected her poetry, it was her personal history that generated her radical opinions. Due to the fact that she lived through many difficulties she started to question god and drew her own conclusions about death. Regardless of the fact that she lived in a different period of time and society has changed since then, people today can identify with her poetry. Anne’s opinions were not limited by the society she lived in; therefore her experiences and thoughts are applicable on the current day.

Works Cited

1. "Anne Brontë (1820–1849)." EBSCOhost . N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Mar. 2012. . 2. "Anne Bronte Poetry ." poet seers. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Mar. 2012. . 3. Bronte, Anne. "Farewell." Poem Hunter. N.p., 31 Dec. 2002. Web. 8 Mar. 2012. . 4. - -. "A Hymn." Poem Hunter. N.p., 31 Dec. 2002. Web. 8 Mar. 2012. . 5. - -. "In Memory of a Happy Day." about.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Mar. 2012. . 6. - -. "My God! O let me call Thee mine! ." poem hunter. N.p., 31 Dec. 2002. Web. 8 Mar. 2012. . 7. - -. "Weep not Much!" emule. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Mar. 2012. . 8. Pemberton, Martha E. "Anne Brontë." EBSCOhost, Literary Reference Center. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Mar. 2012. .