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    Poems by Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell by The Bronte Sisters (Illustrated)
    Poems by Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell by The Bronte Sisters (Illustrated)
    Poems by Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell by The Bronte Sisters (Illustrated)
    Ebook288 pages1 hour

    Poems by Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell by The Bronte Sisters (Illustrated)

    By Anne Brontë, Charlotte Brontë and Emily Brontë

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    About this ebook

    This eBook features the unabridged text of ‘Poems by Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell’ from the bestselling edition of ‘The Complete Works of The Brontes’.



    Having established their name as the leading publisher of classic literature and art, Delphi Classics produce publications that are individually crafted with superior formatting, while introducing many rare texts for the first time in digital print. The Delphi Classics edition of Brontes includes original annotations and illustrations relating to the life and works of the author, as well as individual tables of contents, allowing you to navigate eBooks quickly and easily.

    eBook features:
    * The complete unabridged text of ‘Poems by Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell’
    * Beautifully illustrated with images related to Brontes’s works
    * Individual contents table, allowing easy navigation around the eBook
    * Excellent formatting of the textPlease visit www.delphiclassics.com to learn more about our wide range of titles

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPublishdrive
    Release dateJul 17, 2017
    ISBN9781786561497
    Poems by Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell by The Bronte Sisters (Illustrated)
    Author

    Anne Brontë

    English novelist and poet Anne Brontë was the youngest, and least recognized, member of the Brontë literary family. She wrote a volume of poetry with her sisters, Charlotte and Emily, before publishing two novels under the name Acton Bell. Brontë achieved modest success with her first novel, Agnes Grey, which was based on her time working as a governess, but her second novel, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall was a triumph, selling out in just six weeks. The Tenant of Wildfell Hall is also considered one of the first feminist novels, with depictions of alcoholism and immorality that were profoundly disturbing in the 19th century. Brontë died of tuberculosis in 1849 at the age of 29. Collectively, the Brontë sisters’ novels are considered literary standards that continue to influence modern writers.

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      Book preview

      Poems by Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell by The Bronte Sisters (Illustrated) - Anne Brontë

      The Complete Works of

      THE BRONTËS

      VOLUME 19 OF 29

      Poems by Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell

      Parts Edition

      By Delphi Classics, 2015

      Version 4

      COPYRIGHT

      ‘Poems by Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell’

      The Brontes: Parts Edition (in 29 parts)

      First published in the United Kingdom in 2017 by Delphi Classics.

      © Delphi Classics, 2017.

      All rights reserved.  No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form other than that in which it is published.

      ISBN: 978 1 78656 149 7

      Delphi Classics

      is an imprint of

      Delphi Publishing Ltd

      Hastings, East Sussex

      United Kingdom

      Contact: sales@delphiclassics.com

      www.delphiclassics.com

      The Brontes: Parts Edition

      This eBook is Part 19 of the Delphi Classics edition of The Brontes in 29 Parts. It features the unabridged text of Poems by Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell from the bestselling edition of the author’s Complete Works. Having established their name as the leading publisher of classic literature and art, Delphi Classics produce publications that are individually crafted with superior formatting, while introducing many rare texts for the first time in digital print. Our Parts Editions feature original annotations and illustrations relating to the life and works of The Brontes, as well as individual tables of contents, allowing you to navigate eBooks quickly and easily.

      Visit here to buy the entire Parts Edition of The Brontes or the Complete Works of The Brontes in a single eBook.

      Learn more about our Parts Edition, with free downloads, via this link or browse our most popular Parts here.

      THE BRONTES

      IN 29 VOLUMES

      Parts Edition Contents

      Charlotte Brontë’s Novels

      1, Jane Eyre

      2, Shirley

      3, Villette

      4, The Professor

      5, Emma

      Charlotte Brontë’s Juvenilia

      6, Tales of Angria

      7, Mina Laury

      8, Stancliffe’s Hotel

      9, The Story of Willie Ellin

      10, Albion and Marina

      11, Angria and the Angrians

      12, Tales of the Islanders

      13, The Green Dwarf

      14, Arthuriana

      15, Other Juvenilia Works

      Emily Brontë’s Novel

      16, Wuthering Heights

      Anne Brontë’s Novels

      17, Agnes Grey

      18, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall

      The Poetry of the Brontë Sisters

      19, Poems by Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell

      20, The Complete Poems of Anne Brontë

      21, The Complete Poems of Emily Brontë

      Patrick Brontë’s Works

      22, Cottage Poems

      23, Two Sermons

      24, And the Weary Are at Rest

      Branwell Brontë’s Poetry

      25, The Poems

      The Biographies

      26, The Life of Charlotte Brontë by Elizabeth Gaskell

      27, Charlotte Brontë by T. Wemyss Reid

      28, The Brontë Family by Francis A. Leyland

      29, Charlotte Brontë and Her Circle by Clement King Shorter

      www.delphiclassics.com

      Poems by Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell

      In the summer of 1845, the Brontës were at home with their father. None of the sisters had any immediate prospect of employment. Charlotte came across Emily’s poems which had been shared only with Anne, her partner in the fictional world of Gondal. Charlotte proposed that the verses should be published. Anne revealed her own poems, though Charlotte’s reaction was patronising: I thought that these verses too had a sweet sincere pathos of their own. Eventually the sisters reached an agreement. They told neither their brother Branwell, nor their father about what they were doing. Anne and Emily contributed 21 poems and Charlotte 19 and with Aunt Branwell’s money, they paid to have the collection published.

      Anxious that their work would be judged differently if they revealed they were women, the book of poems appeared using three pseudonyms, the initials of which were the same as their own. Charlotte became Currer Bell, Emily, Ellis Bell and Anne, Acton Bell. Poems by Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell was available for purchase in May 1846. The cost of publication was about three-quarters of Anne’s salary at Thorp Green. On 7 May 1846, the first three copies were delivered to Haworth Parsonage. The collection of verses achieved three somewhat favourable reviews, though overall the book was deemed a failure, with only two copies being sold in the first year. Anne, however, found a market for her more recent poetry. The Leeds Intelligencer and Fraser’s Magazine published her poem The Narrow Way under her pseudonym, Acton Bell in December 1848. Four months earlier, Fraser’s Magazine had published her poem The Three Guides.

      The first edition

      CONTENTS

      POEMS BY CURRER BELL

      PILATE’S WIFE’S DREAM.

      MEMENTOS.

      THE WIFE’S WILL.

      FRANCES.

      GILBERT.

      THE PARLOUR.

      THE WELCOME HOME.

      LIFE.

      THE LETTER.

      REGRET.

      PRESENTIMENT.

      THE TEACHER’S MONOLOGUE.

      PASSION.

      PREFERENCE.

      EVENING SOLACE.

      STANZAS.

      PARTING.

      APOSTASY.

      WINTER STORES.

      THE MISSIONARY.

      POEMS BY ELLIS BELL

      FAITH AND DESPONDENCY.

      STARS.

      THE PHILOSOPHER.

      REMEMBRANCE.

      A DEATH-SCENE.

      SONG: THE LINNET IN THE ROCKY DELLS.

      ANTICIPATION.

      THE PRISONER.

      HOPE.

      A DAY DREAM.

      TO IMAGINATION.

      HOW CLEAR SHE SHINES.

      SYMPATHY.

      PLEAD FOR ME.

      SELF-INTEROGATION

      DEATH.

      STANZAS TO ——

      HONOUR’S MARTYR.

      STANZAS.

      MY COMFORTER.

      THE OLD STOIC.

      POEMS BY ACTON BELL

      A REMINISCENCE.

      THE ARBOUR.

      HOME.

      VANITAS VANITATUM, OMNIA VANITAS.

      THE PENITENT.

      MUSIC ON CHRISTMAS MORNING.

      STANZAS.

      IF THIS BE ALL.

      MEMORY.

      TO COWPER.

      THE DOUBTER’S PRAYER.

      A WORD TO THE ELECT.

      PAST DAYS.

      THE CONSOLATION.

      LINES COMPOSED IN A WOOD ON A WINDY DAY.

      VIEWS OF LIFE.

      APPEAL.

      THE STUDENT’S SERENADE.

      THE CAPTIVE DOVE.

      SELF-CONGRATULATION.

      FLUCTUATIONS

      SELECTIONS FROM THE LITERARY REMAINS OF ELLIS AND ACTON BELL.

      SELECTIONS FROM POEMS BY ELLIS BELL.

      THE BLUEBELL.

      THE NIGHT-WIND.

      LOVE AND FRIENDSHIP.

      THE ELDER’S REBUKE.

      THE WANDERER FROM THE FOLD.

      WARNING AND REPLY.

      LAST WORDS.

      THE LADY TO HER GUITAR.

      THE TWO CHILDREN.

      THE VISIONARY.

      ENCOURAGEMENT.

      STANZAS.

      SELECTIONS FROM POEMS BY ACTON BELL.

      DESPONDENCY.

      A PRAYER.

      IN MEMORY OF A HAPPY DAY IN FEBRUARY.

      CONFIDENCE.

      LINES WRITTEN FROM HOME.

      THE NARROW WAY.

      DOMESTIC PEACE.

      THE THREE GUIDES.

      The title page of the first edition

      POEMS BY CURRER BELL

      PILATE’S WIFE’S DREAM.

      I’ve quench’d my lamp, I struck it in that start

      Which every limb convulsed, I heard it fall —

      The crash blent with my sleep, I saw depart

      Its light, even as I woke, on yonder wall;

      Over against my bed, there shone a gleam

      Strange, faint, and mingling also with my dream.

      It sank, and I am wrapt in utter gloom;

      How far is night advanced, and when will day

      Retinge the dusk and livid air with bloom,

      And fill this void with warm, creative ray?

      Would I could sleep again till, clear and red,

      Morning shall on the mountain-tops be spread!

      I’d call my women, but to break their sleep,

      Because my own is broken, were unjust;

      They’ve wrought all day, and well-earn’d slumbers steep

      Their labours in forgetfulness, I trust;

      Let me my feverish watch with patience bear,

      Thankful that none with me its sufferings share.

      Yet, oh, for light! one ray would tranquillize

      My nerves, my pulses, more than effort can;

      I’ll draw my curtain and consult the skies:

      These trembling stars at dead of night look wan,

      Wild, restless, strange, yet cannot be more drear

      Than this my couch, shared by a nameless fear.

      All black — one great cloud, drawn from east to west,

      Conceals the heavens, but there are lights below;

      Torches burn in Jerusalem, and cast

      On yonder stony mount a lurid glow.

      I see men station’d there, and gleaming spears;

      A sound, too, from afar, invades my ears.

      Dull, measured strokes of axe and hammer ring

      From street to street, not loud, but through the night

      Distinctly heard — and some strange spectral thing

      Is now uprear’d — and, fix’d against the light

      Of the pale lamps, defined upon that sky,

      It stands up like a column, straight and high.

      I see it all — I know the dusky sign —

      A cross on Calvary, which Jews uprear

      While Romans watch; and when the dawn shall shine

      Pilate, to judge the victim, will appear —

      Pass sentence-yield Him up to crucify;

      And on that cross the spotless Christ must die.

      Dreams, then, are true — for thus my vision ran;

      Surely some oracle has been with me,

      The gods have chosen me to reveal their plan,

      To warn an unjust judge of destiny:

      I, slumbering, heard and saw; awake I know,

      Christ’s coming death, and Pilate’s life of woe.

      I do not weep for Pilate — who could prove

      Regret for him whose cold and crushing sway

      No prayer can soften, no appeal can move:

      Who tramples hearts as others trample clay,

      Yet with a faltering, an uncertain tread,

      That might stir up reprisal in the dead.

      Forced to sit by his side and see his deeds;

      Forced to behold that visage, hour by hour,

      In whose gaunt lines the abhorrent gazer reads

      A triple lust of gold, and blood, and power;

      A soul whom motives fierce, yet abject, urge —

      Rome’s servile slave, and Judah’s tyrant scourge.

      How can I love, or mourn, or pity him?

      I, who so long my fetter’d hands have wrung;

      I, who for grief have wept my eyesight dim;

      Because, while life for me was bright and young,

      He robb’d my youth — he quench’d my life’s fair ray —

      He crush’d my mind, and did my freedom slay.

      And at this hour-although I be his wife —

      He has no more of tenderness from me

      Than any other wretch of guilty life;

      Less, for I know his household privacy —

      I see him as he is — without a screen;

      And, by the gods, my soul abhors his mien!

      Has he not sought my presence, dyed in blood —

      Innocent, righteous blood, shed shamelessly?

      And have I not his red salute withstood?

      Ay, when, as erst, he plunged all Galilee

      In dark bereavement — in affliction sore,

      Mingling their very offerings with their gore.

      Then came he — in his eyes a serpent-smile,

      Upon his lips some false, endearing word,

      And through the streets

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