The
Poetic World of Emily Brontë presents
selected poems by Emily Brontë, biographical information about her, and
insights to Wuthering Heights. The poems are grouped by thematic topic,
preceded by discussions of literary context, Brontë’s life, and Wuthering
Heights. Interpretations follow each poem enabling any reader to appreciate
and enjoy her poetry.
Emily Bronte is best known for her
novel, but her poetry is of equal merit and comprises virtually the only other
work by her for us to read. The poems are also of great interest in their
biographical value; it is a premise of this book that Emily Brontë’s poetry
provides otherwise unknowable information about her personality and beliefs.
Conversely, the biographical information gives insights to the meaning of her
poems. Knowing her poetry also enriches one’s reading of Wuthering Heights.
Unlike any other collection of Brontë’s poetry, this book presents
selected poems grouped by thematic topic: nature, mutability, love, death,
captivity and freedom, hope and despair, imagination, and spirituality. That
approach and the accompanying discussions of the poems aim at ensuring that all
readers will take meaning from the poems and develop an affinity for them.
GUEST POST
When
I first read a few poems by Emily Brontë, I liked some more than others.
Mostly I preferred the ones that I felt I understood. Now it would be
very hard to choose favorites. At first encounter, I found some puzzling. My
experience with the arcane parts of Brontë’s poetry formed my original impetus
for The Poetic World of Emily Brontë; I wanted to make her poetry
accessible. Also, in taking on a project that required reading her poems so
repeatedly that I got many by heart, I had the excuse to spend long and happy
hours reading Brontë’s work and considering her life. I obviously adhere to the
school of literary criticism called “close reading,” the old fashioned approach
of determining what the author meant. When I read literature, I think about the
person with the nib-tipped pen in hand (what I read is more often than not
written in that way) and I want to feel the personal connection of her sharing
her ideas; accordingly, I have to understand what she intended to convey not
just whatever it is I might take away given my own predilections. As a third
purpose in writing this book, I sought to redress in my small way that Brontë
did not receive her due in her era and is little known as a poet today.
There is no statute of limitations on reading her poetry; like all great
literature, it is timeless. Last but equally I wanted to delve into Brontë’s
life, but I did not see the need or chance of success for another biography of
her life. While working on the book, the biographical element grew in
importance as I came to understand more and more how much her poems were
telling me about her.
Information about Brontë’s life is closer to our
sketchy facts about Shakespeare than knowledge about a 19th Century
writer -- there just is not much to give us an idea of her personality, except
her work.
Such
were my developed goals -- make Brontë’s poems comprehensible and therefore
enjoyable to the casual reader of poetry; bring Brontë out of the margins of
Victorian poetry, and contribute to Emily Brontë biography -- none of which
explains my interest in (bordering on obsession with) Emily Brontë. I
have two literary household gods, Emily Brontë and John Keats. They both
were poets, died young of tuberculosis, suffered, were oppressed by social
convention, were unlike anyone other type of individual, and were
entirely self-sufficient intellectually, which was indispensable to their
taking up the pen to write, since no one thought either was the appropriate
kind of person to be pursuing literature. Emily Brontë reigns supreme, however,
because she was my first great scholarly love and because I feel that I
personally know her and her family. Where the world of biography leaves
off, and it ends in a resounding dearth of information especially about her
last years of life, I imagined her world – her daily existence, gestures,
gaits, appearance, and voice. My version finally became real so that I have
trouble keeping the two worlds separate. I felt at one with her family
situation, in particular the turmoil and sadness caused by Branwell, a
brilliant and promising older brother who became an alcoholic, threatened the
family with financial ruin, lived a tormented existence, and died in part from
his addiction. That is a story with an enduring relevance.
Obsession is a personal thing, so I
don’t expect anyone to immerse himself in Brontë’s work and life because he
read my book. I do think one will find information of a thought-provoking and
relevant kind about her poems, her life and poetry in general, and I feel
certain many will read or revisit Wuthering Heights, a cornerstone of
Brontë’s poetic world.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Laura Inman is an independent scholar,
free-lance writer, tutor, and retired attorney. Her interest in Victorian
literature has led to the publication of two articles on Emily Brontë: “ ‘The
Awful Event’ in Wuthering Heights,” Brontë Studies Volume
33, Part 3, November 2008, 19 2002, and “Emily Brontё’s Defeat of Death
and Unintended Solace for Grief,” Victorians: Journal of Culture and
Literature, No.121, spring 2012. She holds a J.D. from The Law
School of the University of Texas at Austin, a B.A. in French from the
University of Arizona, and a Masters in English Education from Manhattanville
College in Purchase, New York. She is a New York State certified teacher in
English Language Arts and French. She writes essays and creative pieces for
on-line magazines and blogs and for her own blog, thelivingphilosopher.com.
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