The Brontë Family, with special reference to Patrick Branwell Brontë. Vol. 2 of 2Leyland, Francis A.
History
The Brontë Family, with special reference to Patrick Branwell Brontë. Vol. 2 of 2
Leyland, Francis A.
Authors, English -- 19th century -- Biography; Brontë family; Brontë, Patrick Branwell, 1817-1848
At this time there was no fear of his leaving his employment, and no
fear that he would be dismissed from it; but a certain excitability
and fitfulness of manner, a disposition to pass suddenly from gaiety
to moody disquietude, which Anne had observed in her brother, had
attracted, also, as has been seen, the serious attention of the other
sisters, who were alarmed by it, and wondered greatly what the cause
might be. And, indeed, a change had been coming over Branwell, for six
months or more, a change which in the beginning had scarcely been
understood by himself. A new feeling had impressed itself upon his
heart that he had never experienced before, and against which he
strove in vain. Branwell, in fact, who had never yet loved beyond the
confines of his own home, had conceived an infatuated admiration for
the wife of his employer, which afterwards, with his warm feelings,
became a deep affection, and finally developed into a fierce and
over-mastering passion. The lady who had dazzled and confused his
understanding, as will presently appear, was unaware of the effect she
had thus produced on the heart of the tutor, and he began to mistake
her kindly, condescending manners for a return of his affection, an
illusion which, as the sequel will show, he nursed to the very end of
his life. Under this peculiar aberration of his mind, he cherished the
hope that, as his employer was in feeble health, he might ere long be
in a position to marry the widow, whom he believed to have already
bestowed her affections upon him; when, being in easy circumstances,
and possessed, as he termed it, of 'the priceless affluence of
enduring peace,' he should be abler as he often declared, undisturbed
by the usual perturbations of literary life, to make sure progress,
and win for himself a name among the best authors of the day.
But at this period of his life Branwell is not known to have written
much verse, his mind being otherwise occupied. The two following
beautiful sonnets, however, are from his pen, dated May, 1845, and
are, together, entitled:
THE EMIGRANT.
'When sink from sight the landmarks of our home,
And,--all the bitterness of farewells o'er,--
We yield our spirit unto ocean's foam,
And in the new-born life which lies before,
On far Columbian or Australian shore,
Strive to exchange time past for time to come:
How melancholy, then, if morn restore--
(Less welcome than the night's forgetful gloom)
Old England's blue hills to our sight again,
When we, our thoughts seemed weaning from her sky,--
That _pang_ which wakes the almost silenced pain!
Thus, when the sick man lies, resigned to die,
A well-loved voice, a well-remembered strain,
Lets Time break harshly in upon Eternity.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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