To see thee stand prepared to fly,
And flap those useless wings of thine,
And gaze into the distant sky,
Would melt a harder heart than mine.
In vain-in vain! Thou canst not rise:
Thy prison roof confines thee there;
Its slender wires delude thine eyes,
And quench thy longings with despair.
Oh, thou wert made to wander free
In sunny mead and shady grove,
And, far beyond the rolling sea,
In distant climes, at will to rove!
Yet, hadst thou but one gentle mate
Thy little drooping heart to cheer,
And share with thee thy captive state,
Thou couldst be happy even there.
Yes, even there, if, listening by,
One faithful dear companion stood,
While gazing on her full bright eye,
Thou mightst forget thy native wood.
But thou, poor solitary dove,
Must make, unheard, thy joyless moan;
The heart, that Nature formed to love,
Must pine, neglected, and alone.
~ Anne Bronte
She is the often over-shadowed member of the famous sister writers – Emily and Charlotte Bronte. But while Emily is known for her famous novel, Wuthering Heights, and Charlotte is remembered for her steadfast heroine, Jane Eyre, Anne’s two novels, Agnes Grey and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, are also considered English classics.
Anne was the youngest member of the Bronte family and grew up writing alongside her sisters. She created an imaginary world, called Gondal, with Emily and wrote many short stories and poems about it, even into her twenties. Along with her two sisters, Anne published a book of poems under their pseudonym Currer, Ellis and Acton Bell, and composed many poems throughout her lifetime. They often had to do with faith, loneliness and the environment that surrounded her on the Yorkshire moors.
The author was also an artist. One of her drawings, "Sunrise Over Sea", can be seen above. She drew it when she was a governess, at the age of 19.
Like Charlotte’s Jane Eyre, Anne was also a governess, and it is believed that her very first novel, Agnes Grey, was based on her experience of working in that position for five years. However, while Charlotte and Emily are known for their romantic writing, Anne had a much different style. Her prose is considered more sharp, ironic and realistic.
Sadly, a year after The Tenant of Wildfell Hall was published, Anne was diagnosed with Tuberculosis at the age of 29. Like her two sisters, she did not live long. She died the same year.
Photo: Anne Bronte's drawing, "Sunrise Over Sea".
