[ { "title": "'Tis moonlight, summer moonlight", "author": "Emily Bronte", "lines": [ "'Tis moonlight, summer moonlight,", "All soft and still and fair;", "The solemn hour of midnight", "Breathes sweet thoughts everywhere,", "", "But most where trees are sending", "Their breezy boughs on high,", "Or stooping low are lending", "A shelter from the sky.", "", "And there in those wild bowers", "A lovely form is laid;", "Green grass and dew-steeped flowers", "Wave gently round her head." ], "linecount": "12" }, { "title": "How still, how happy!", "author": "Emily Bronte", "lines": [ "How still, how happy! Those are words", "That once would scarce agree together;", "I loved the plashing of the surge -", "The changing heaven the breezy weather,", "", "More than smooth seas and cloudless skies", "And solemn, soothing, softened airs", "That in the forest woke no sighs", "And from the green spray shook no tears.", "", "How still, how happy! now I feel", "Where silence dwells is sweeter far", "Than laughing mirth's most joyous swell", "However pure its raptures are.", "", "Come, sit down on this sunny stone:", "'Tis wintry light o'er flowerless moors -", "But sit - for we are all alone", "And clear expand heaven's breathless shores.", "", "I could think in the withered grass", "Spring's budding wreaths we might discern;", "The violet's eye might shyly flash", "And young leaves shoot among the fern.", "", "It is but thought - full many a night", "The snow shall clothe those hills afar", "And storms shall add a drearier blight", "And winds shall wage a wilder war,", "", "Before the lark may herald in", "Fresh foliage twined with blossoms fair", "And summer days again begin", "Their glory - haloed crown to wear.", "", "Yet my heart loves December's smile", "As much as July's golden beam;", "Then let us sit and watch the while", "The blue ice curdling on the stream -" ], "linecount": "32" }, { "title": "Come hither, child", "author": "Emily Bronte", "lines": [ "Come hither, child--who gifted thee", "With power to touch that string so well?", "How darest thou rouse up thoughts in me,", "Thoughts that I would--but cannot quell?", "", "Nay, chide not, lady; long ago", "I heard those notes in Ula's hall,", "And had I known they'd waken woe", "I'd weep their music to recall.", "", "But thus it was: one festal night", "When I was hardly six years old", "I stole away from crowds and light", "And sought a chamber dark and cold.", "", "I had no one to love me there,", "I knew no comrade and no friend;", "And so I went to sorrow where", "Heaven, only heaven saw me bend.", "", "Loud blew the wind; 'twas sad to stay", "From all that splendour barred away.", "I imaged in the lonely room", "A thousand forms of fearful gloom.", "", "And with my wet eyes raised on high", "I prayed to God that I might die.", "Suddenly in that silence drear", "A sound of music reached my ear,", "", "And then a note, I hear it yet,", "So full of soul, so deeply sweet,", "I thought that Gabriel's self had come", "To take me to thy father's home.", "", "Three times it rose, that seraph strain,", "Then died, nor breathed again;", "But still the words and still the tone", "Dwell round my heart when all alone." ], "linecount": "32" }, { "title": "Stars", "author": "Emily Bronte", "lines": [ "Ah! why, because the dazzling sun", "Restored our Earth to joy,", "Have you departed, every one,", "And left a desert sky?", "", "All through the night, your glorious eyes", "Were gazing down in mine,", "And, with a full heart's thankful sighs,", "I blessed that watch divine.", "", "I was at peace, and drank your beams", "As they were life to me;", "And revelled in my changeful dreams,", "Like petrel on the sea.", "", "Thought followed thought, star followed star", "Through boundless regions on;", "While one sweet influence, near and far,", "Thrilled through, and proved us one!", "", "Why did the morning dawn to break", "So great, so pure a spell;", "And scorch with fire the tranquil cheek,", "Where your cool radiance fell?", "", "Blood-red, he rose, and arrow-straight,", "His fierce beams struck my brow;", "The soul of nature sprang, elate,", "But mine sank sad and low.", "", "My lids closed down, yet through their veil", "I saw him, blazinig, still,", "And steep in gold the misty dale,", "And flash upon the hill.", "", "I turned me to the pillow, then,", "To call back night, and see", "Your words of solemn light, again,", "Throb with my heart, and me!", "", "It would not do - the pillow glowed,", "And glowed both roof and floor;", "And birds sang loudly in the wood,", "And fresh winds shook the door;", "", "The curtains waved, the wakened flies", "Were murmuring round my room,", "Imprisoned there, till I should rise,", "And give them leave to roam.", "", "O stars, and dreams, and gentle night;", "O night and stars, return!", "And hide me from the hostile light", "That does not warm, but burn;", "", "That drains the blood of suffering men;", "Drinks tears, instead of dew;", "Let me sleep through his blinding reign,", "And only wake with you!" ], "linecount": "48" }, { "title": "Death", "author": "Emily Bronte", "lines": [ "Death! that struck when I was most confiding", "In my certain faith of joy to be -", "Strike again, Time's withered branch dividing", "From the fresh root of Eternity!", "", "Leaves, upon Time's branch, were growing brightly,", "Full of sap, and full of silver dew;", "Birds beneath its shelter gathered nightly;", "Daily round its flowers the wild bees flew.", "", "Sorrow passed, and plucked the golden blossom;", "Guilt stripped off the foliage in its pride;", "But, within its parent's kindly bosom,", "Flowed for ever Life's restoring-tide.", "", "Little mourned I for the parted gladness,", "For the vacant nest and silent song -", "Hope was there, and laughed me out of sadness;", "Whispering, \" Winter will not linger long!\"", "", "And, behold! with tenfold increase blessing,", "Spring adorned the beauty-burdened spray;", "Wind and rain and fervent heat, caressing,", "Lavished glory on that second May!", "", "High it rose - no winged grief could sweep it;", "Sin was scared to distance with its shine;", "Love, and its own life, had power to keep it", "From all wrong - from every blight but thine!", "", "Cruel Death! The young leaves droop and languish;", "Evening's gentle air may still restore -", "No! the morning sunshine mocks my anguish -", "Time, for me, must never blossom more!", "", "Strike it down, that other boughs may flourish", "Where that perished sapling used to be;", "Thus, at least, its mouldering corpse will nourish", "That from which it sprung - Eternity." ], "linecount": "32" }, { "title": "A Day Dream", "author": "Emily Bronte", "lines": [ "On a sunny brae, alone I lay", "One summer afternoon;", "It was the marriage-time of May", "With her young lover, June.", "", "From her mother's heart, seemed loath to part", "That queen of bridal charms,", "But her father smiled on the fairest child", "He ever held in his arms.", "", "The trees did wave their plumy crests,", "The glad birds caroled clear;", "And I, of all the wedding guests,", "Was only sullen there!", "", "There was not one, but wished to shun", "My aspect void of cheer;", "The very grey rocks, looking on,", "Asked, \"What do you here?\"", "", "And I could utter no reply;", "In sooth, I did not know", "Why I had brought a clouded eye", "To greet the general glow.", "", "So, resting on a heathy bank,", "I took my heart to me;", "And we together sadly sank", "Into a reverie.", "", "We thought, \"When winter comes again,", "Where will these bright things be?", "All vanished, like a vision vain,", "An unreal mockery!", "", "The birds that now so blithely sing,", "Through deserts, frozen dry,", "Poor spectres of the perished spring,", "In famished troops, will fly.", "", "And why should we be glad at all?", "The leaf is hardly green,", "Before a token of its fall", "Is on the surface seen!\"", "", "Now, whether it were really so,", "I never could be sure;", "But as in fit of peevish woe,", "I stretched me on the moor.", "", "A thousand thousand gleaming fires", "Seemed kindling in the air;", "A thousand thousand silvery lyres", "Resounded far and near:", "", "Methought, the very breath I breathed", "Was full of sparks divine,", "And all my heather-couch was wreathed", "By that celestial shine!", "", "And, while the wide earth echoing rung", "To their strange minstrelsy,", "The little glittering spirits sung,", "Or seemed to sing, to me.", "", "\"O mortal! mortal! let them die;", "Let time and tears destroy,", "That we may overflow the sky", "With universal joy!", "", "Let grief distract the sufferer's breast,", "And night obscure his way;", "They hasten him to endless rest,", "And everlasting day.", "", "To thee the world is like a tomb,", "A desert's naked shore;", "To us, in unimagined bloom,", "It brightens more and more!", "", "And could we lift the veil, and give", "One brief glimpse to thine eye,", "Thou wouldst rejoice for those that live,", "Because they live to die.\"", "", "The music ceased; the noonday dream,", "Like dream of night, withdrew;", "But Fancy, still, will sometimes deem", "Her fond creation true." ], "linecount": "72" }, { "title": "Sympathy", "author": "Emily Bronte", "lines": [ "There should be no despair for you", "While nightly stars are burning,", "While evening pours its silent dew", "And sunshine gilds the morning.", "There should be no despair - though tears", "May flow down like a river:", "Are not the best beloved of years", "Around your heart forever?", "", "They weep - you weep - it must be so;", "Winds sigh as you are sighing,", "And Winter sheds his grief in snow", "Where Autumn's leaves are lying:", "Yet these revive, and from their fate", "Your fate cannot be parted,", "Then journey on, if not elate,", "Still, never broken-hearted!" ], "linecount": "16" }, { "title": "Faith and Despondency", "author": "Emily Bronte", "lines": [ "The winter wind is loud and wild,", "Come close to me, my darling child;", "Forsake thy books, and mateless play;", "And, while the night is gathering grey,", "We'll talk its pensive hours away;--", "", "'Ierne, round our sheltered hall", "November's gusts unheeded call;", "Not one faint breath can enter here", "Enough to wave my daughter's hair,", "And I am glad to watch the blaze", "Glance from her eyes, with mimic rays;", "To feel her cheek so softly pressed,", "In happy quiet on my breast.", "", "'But, yet, even this tranquillity", "Brings bitter, restless thoughts to me;", "And, in the red fire's cheerful glow,", "I think of deep glens, blocked with snow;", "I dream of moor, and misty hill,", "Where evening closes dark and chill;", "For, lone, among the mountains cold,", "Lie those that I have loved of old.", "And my heart aches, in hopeless pain", "Exhausted with repinings vain,", "That I shall greet them ne'er again!'", "", "'Father, in early infancy,", "When you were far beyond the sea,", "Such thoughts were tyrants over me!", "I often sat, for hours together,", "Through the long nights of angry weather,", "Raised on my pillow, to descry", "The dim moon struggling in the sky;", "", "Or, with strained ear, to catch the shock,", "Of rock with wave, and wave with rock;", "So would I fearful vigil keep,", "And, all for listening, never sleep.", "But this world's life has much to dread,", "Not so, my Father, with the dead.", "", "'Oh! not for them, should we despair,", "The grave is drear, but they are not there;", "Their dust is mingled with the sod,", "Their happy souls are gone to God!", "You told me this, and yet you sigh,", "And murmur that your friends must die.", "Ah! my dear father, tell me why?", "", "For, if your former words were true,", "How useless would such sorrow be;", "As wise, to mourn the seed which grew", "Unnoticed on its parent tree,", "Because it fell in fertile earth,", "And sprang up to a glorious birth--", "Struck deep its root, and lifted high", "Its green boughs, in the breezy sky.", "", "'But, I'll not fear, I will not weep", "For those whose bodies rest in sleep,--", "I know there is a blessed shore,", "Opening its ports for me, and mine;", "And, gazing Time's wide waters o'er,", "I weary for that land divine,", "Where we were born, where you and I", "Shall meet our Dearest, when we die;", "From suffering and corruption free,", "Restored into the Deity.'", "", "'Well hast thou spoken, sweet, trustful child!", "And wiser than thy sire;", "And worldly tempests, raging wild,", "Shall strengthen thy desire--", "Thy fervent hope, through storm and foam,", "Through wind and ocean's roar,", "To reach, at last, the eternal home,", "The steadfast, changeless, shore!'" ], "linecount": "70" }, { "title": "The Night is Darkening Around Me", "author": "Emily Bronte", "lines": [ "The night is darkening round me,", "The wild winds coldly blow ;", "But a tyrant spell has bound me,", "And I cannot, cannot go.", "", "The giant trees are bending", "Their bare boughs weighed with snow ;", "The storm is fast descending,", "And yet I cannot go.", "", "Clouds beyond clouds above me,", "Wastes beyond wastes below ;", "But nothing drear can move me :", "I will not, cannot go." ], "linecount": "12" }, { "title": "Hope", "author": "Emily Bronte", "lines": [ "Hope was but a timid friend;", "She sat without the grated den,", "Watching how my fate would tend,", "Even as selfish-hearted men.", "", "She was cruel in her fear;", "Through the bars, one dreary day,", "I looked out to see her there,", "And she turned her face away!", "", "Like a false guard, false watch keeping,", "Still, in strife, she whispered peace;", "She would sing while I was weeping;", "If I listened, she would cease.", "", "False she was, and unrelenting;", "When my last joys strewed the ground,", "Even Sorrow saw, repenting,", "Those sad relics scattered round;", "", "Hope, whose whisper would have given", "Balm to all my frenzied pain,", "Stretched her wings, and soared to heaven,", "Went, and ne'er returned again!" ], "linecount": "20" }, { "title": "A Little Budding Rose", "author": "Emily Bronte", "lines": [ "It was a little budding rose,", "Round like a fairy globe,", "And shyly did its leaves unclose", "Hid in their mossy robe,", "But sweet was the slight and spicy smell", "It breathed from its heart invisible.", "", "The rose is blasted, withered, blighted,", "Its root has felt a worm,", "And like a heart beloved and slighted,", "Failed, faded, shrunk its form.", "Bud of beauty, bonnie flower,", "I stole thee from thy natal bower.", "", "I was the worm that withered thee,", "Thy tears of dew all fell for me;", "Leaf and stalk and rose are gone,", "Exile earth they died upon.", "Yes, that last breath of balmy scent", "With alien breezes sadly blent!" ], "linecount": "18" }, { "title": "Moonlight, summer moonlight", "author": "Emily Bronte", "lines": [ "'Tis moonlight, summer moonlight,", "All soft and still and fair;", "The solemn hour of midnight", "Breathes sweet thoughts everywhere,", "", "But most where trees are sending", "Their breezy boughs on high,", "Or stooping low are lending", "A shelter from the sky.", "", "And there in those wild bowers", "A lovely form is laid;", "Green grass and dew-steeped flowers", "Wave gently round her head." ], "linecount": "12" }, { "title": "Love and Friendship", "author": "Emily Bronte", "lines": [ "Love is like the wild rose-briar,", "Friendship like the holly-tree --", "The holly is dark when the rose-briar blooms", "But which will bloom most contantly?", "The wild-rose briar is sweet in the spring,", "Its summer blossoms scent the air;", "Yet wait till winter comes again", "And who wil call the wild-briar fair?", "Then scorn the silly rose-wreath now", "And deck thee with the holly's sheen,", "That when December blights thy brow", "He may still leave thy garland green." ], "linecount": "12" }, { "title": "Night is Darkening Around Me, The", "author": "Emily Bronte", "lines": [ "The night is darkening round me,", "The wild winds coldly blow ;", "But a tyrant spell has bound me,", "And I cannot, cannot go.", "", "The giant trees are bending", "Their bare boughs weighed with snow ;", "The storm is fast descending,", "And yet I cannot go.", "", "Clouds beyond clouds above me,", "Wastes beyond wastes below ;", "But nothing drear can move me :", "I will not, cannot go." ], "linecount": "12" } ]