Monday, March 16, 2015

Charlotte Brontë

Charlotte Brontë (1816—1855) is the eldest of the three famous Brontë sisters. She had had two older sisters who both died in childhood. Her mother also died when Charlotte was 5-years-old. Her father was an evangelical Anglican priest who was appointed Rector of Haworth in Yorkshire in 1820.

Charlotte, Emily and Anne, became their own literary community — assisting each other with their poetry and fiction. Charlotte is best remembered as the author of the novel Jane Eyre (1847). She received two offers of marriage in 1839, another in 1851, and finally in 1854 she married Arthur Bell Nicholls — her father's Curate.

Her remaining siblings all died prematurely: her brother Branwell and sister Emily in 1848, and lastly Anne in 1849. Charlotte, herself died in 1855 due to overwhelming sickness during her pregnancy.

On The Death Of Anne Brontë

There's little joy in life for me,
And little terror in the grave;
I 've lived the parting hour to see
Of one I would have died to save.

Calmly to watch the failing breath,
Wishing each sigh might be the last;
Longing to see the shade of death
O'er those belovèd features cast.

The cloud, the stillness that must part
The darling of my life from me;
And then to thank God from my heart,
To thank Him well and fervently;

Although I knew that we had lost
The hope and glory of our life;
And now, benighted, tempest-tossed,
Must bear alone the weary strife.

This is the first Kingdom Poets post about Charlotte Brontë: second post.

Entry written by D.S. Martin. His latest poetry collection, Conspiracy of Light: Poems Inspired by the Legacy of C.S. Lewis, is available from Wipf & Stock as is his earlier award-winning collection, Poiema.