On the Death of Anne Brontë by Charlotte Brontë

by Janice Campbell · Published January 23, 2013 · Updated October 21, 2015

On the Death of Anne Brontë

From left to right: Anne, Emily, and Charlotte Brontë; painted by their brother Patrick Bromwell Brontë before 1848; image courtesy of www.shmoop.com

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 beloved 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.