erikars's review
Best Poems of the Brontë Sisters is, not surprisingly, a collection of poems by the Brontë sisters. Many of the poems in this volume were originally published in the book released by the Brontë under the names Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell. Generally, I enjoyed reading the poems. However, there was a lot of death. I think I could number on one hand (in unary!) the number of poems in this fifty page volume which were not about death. Oh well, still a good read if you're a fan of any of the Brontës.
lberestecki's review
4.0
I'm not a huge poetry person, but this was a good collection and had a decent number of poems from each sister. I prefer Charlotte's novels, so I was a bit surprised that Emily had the most poems that I liked.
Received from NetGalley.
Received from NetGalley.
trish204's review
5.0
This little book contains a collection of poems from three of the most well-known women in literature.
The best known works are of course the novels Jane Eyre (Charlotte) and Wuthering Heights (Emily), but The Tenant of Wildfell Hall and Agnes Grey (both by Anne) are known as well.
All in all, the three sisters definitely had talent, there is no denying it (which makes it even more sad that they had or thought they had to publish under male pseudonyms - Currer Bell for Charlotte, Ellis Bell for Emily and Acton Bell for Anne - at first)!
What I didn't know was that they had written poems as well. Since I love poetry I had to have this little collection of course - and I was not disappointed. As with the novels, the poems as well are pretty dark (they are about death, loss and regret mostly) but heartbreakingly beautiful, hauntingly beautiful.
So I started looking up the sisters' biographies and it became pretty clear WHAT causes the melancholy:
Originally there were six siblings - Maria, Elizabeth, Charlotte, Patrick Branwell, Emily Jane and Anne.
Maria died of tuberculosis, which she had gotten at school, at the age of eleven. Since the second oldest, Elizabeth, joined her oldest sister at the college shortly before that, she unfortunately suffered the same fate (dying at age 10).
As far as I was able to find out, it was not unusual for schools to be a health risk back then. For example, several decades before the Brontë sisters' experience, Jane Austen and her sister Cassandra contracted typhus at a similar boarding school, and Jane nearly died! The Austen sisters' education, like that of the Brontë sisters, was continued at home after that.
Charlotte blamed the school for her sisters' deaths, especially its poor medical care (repeated emetics and blood-lettings) and the negligence of the school's doctor who was the director's brother-in-law. Charlotte's vivid memories were poured into her depiction of Lowood School in Jane Eyre.
Branwell had a lot of interests (it is rumoured that he was some sort of genius) like painting and writing but became addicted to alcohol and laudanum (an opium tincture) and eventually died of tuberculosis when he was 31 years old.
Thus, it is safe to say that the sisters knew loss and heardship.
Emily was the next to die (in 1848). She was, supposedly, the most talented of them all. She was very timid and loved wandering around the moors where they all lived. She never married. She also refused treatment when her health declined due to consumption.
Only one year later, in 1849, Anne died as well. However, she did try to fight it by insisting to be taken to a town near the sea (it was believed that salty air was helpful). However, as with all her siblings before her, there was nothing to be done. She was only 28.
In the end, it was only Charlotte, which definitely explains the darkness of her poems (she wrote one both for Emily and Anne after they died). Charlotte was in love with her publisher for some time. They never got into a relationship however. She also declined one of her father's curates, but changed her mind (despite saying that he was too conventional in his ways and that her status as "wife" terrified her) and married him in 1854. Maybe it was the loneliness that she wanted to get rid of because although he apparently was a good husband, I can't see Charlotte as a married woman. All biographer's describe her and her sisters as being very timid but also very emancipated.
She died one year later in 1855 (she was pregnant at the time, there was dirty water involved so it probably was tuberculosis combined with typhoid fever). She was only 38.
Thus, it is quite understandable that there is some sort of myth about this family, as if they had been blessed with extreme talent but also cursed with early deaths.
I always find biographical details important and very interesting. Sure, in this case (as with the novels and poems), it's also very tragic and saddening but it does explain the writing styles.
Anyway, this review is supposed to be about the poems. *lol*
The book contains 10 poems written by Charlotte, 23 by Emily and 14 by Anne. My favourites by Charlotte are Regret, Parting and the two about her sisters' deaths (I cannot even begin to imagine what it must have felt like to be the last one left of 6 siblings and to have to see them die one after the other). My favourites by Emily are Rememberence and Hope. My favourites by Anne are If This Be All and The Bluebell.
Yeah, they aren't the most optimistic poems to be sure, but they all have a distinct style, each their very own voice and they are all a thing of beauty!
The best known works are of course the novels Jane Eyre (Charlotte) and Wuthering Heights (Emily), but The Tenant of Wildfell Hall and Agnes Grey (both by Anne) are known as well.
All in all, the three sisters definitely had talent, there is no denying it (which makes it even more sad that they had or thought they had to publish under male pseudonyms - Currer Bell for Charlotte, Ellis Bell for Emily and Acton Bell for Anne - at first)!
What I didn't know was that they had written poems as well. Since I love poetry I had to have this little collection of course - and I was not disappointed. As with the novels, the poems as well are pretty dark (they are about death, loss and regret mostly) but heartbreakingly beautiful, hauntingly beautiful.
So I started looking up the sisters' biographies and it became pretty clear WHAT causes the melancholy:
Originally there were six siblings - Maria, Elizabeth, Charlotte, Patrick Branwell, Emily Jane and Anne.
Maria died of tuberculosis, which she had gotten at school, at the age of eleven. Since the second oldest, Elizabeth, joined her oldest sister at the college shortly before that, she unfortunately suffered the same fate (dying at age 10).
As far as I was able to find out, it was not unusual for schools to be a health risk back then. For example, several decades before the Brontë sisters' experience, Jane Austen and her sister Cassandra contracted typhus at a similar boarding school, and Jane nearly died! The Austen sisters' education, like that of the Brontë sisters, was continued at home after that.
Charlotte blamed the school for her sisters' deaths, especially its poor medical care (repeated emetics and blood-lettings) and the negligence of the school's doctor who was the director's brother-in-law. Charlotte's vivid memories were poured into her depiction of Lowood School in Jane Eyre.
Branwell had a lot of interests (it is rumoured that he was some sort of genius) like painting and writing but became addicted to alcohol and laudanum (an opium tincture) and eventually died of tuberculosis when he was 31 years old.
Thus, it is safe to say that the sisters knew loss and heardship.
Emily was the next to die (in 1848). She was, supposedly, the most talented of them all. She was very timid and loved wandering around the moors where they all lived. She never married. She also refused treatment when her health declined due to consumption.
Only one year later, in 1849, Anne died as well. However, she did try to fight it by insisting to be taken to a town near the sea (it was believed that salty air was helpful). However, as with all her siblings before her, there was nothing to be done. She was only 28.
In the end, it was only Charlotte, which definitely explains the darkness of her poems (she wrote one both for Emily and Anne after they died). Charlotte was in love with her publisher for some time. They never got into a relationship however. She also declined one of her father's curates, but changed her mind (despite saying that he was too conventional in his ways and that her status as "wife" terrified her) and married him in 1854. Maybe it was the loneliness that she wanted to get rid of because although he apparently was a good husband, I can't see Charlotte as a married woman. All biographer's describe her and her sisters as being very timid but also very emancipated.
She died one year later in 1855 (she was pregnant at the time, there was dirty water involved so it probably was tuberculosis combined with typhoid fever). She was only 38.
Thus, it is quite understandable that there is some sort of myth about this family, as if they had been blessed with extreme talent but also cursed with early deaths.
I always find biographical details important and very interesting. Sure, in this case (as with the novels and poems), it's also very tragic and saddening but it does explain the writing styles.
Anyway, this review is supposed to be about the poems. *lol*
The book contains 10 poems written by Charlotte, 23 by Emily and 14 by Anne. My favourites by Charlotte are Regret, Parting and the two about her sisters' deaths (I cannot even begin to imagine what it must have felt like to be the last one left of 6 siblings and to have to see them die one after the other). My favourites by Emily are Rememberence and Hope. My favourites by Anne are If This Be All and The Bluebell.
Yeah, they aren't the most optimistic poems to be sure, but they all have a distinct style, each their very own voice and they are all a thing of beauty!
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