Phone: 203 742-1450
Fairfield County Catholic Cemeteries of the Diocese of Bridgeport

August 29, 2023

“If all else perished, and he remained, I should still continue to be; and if all else remained, and he were annihilated, the universe would turn to a mighty stranger: I should not seem a part of it.”
—Emily Brontë, ‘Wuthering Heights’

Brontë SistersAnne Bronte was the youngest of the famed Brontë sisters and a well-known poet, although her older two siblings, Charlotte and Emily received wider recognition for their work. Anne, who died at 29 of tuberculosis in 1849, knew tragedy in her short life, including the death of her mother, her two older sisters and her brother Branwell. In her time, her poetry was considered radical because it pondered the loss of loved ones and questioned God.

“Farewell” is one of her most famous poems, in which she describes losing a loved one. One critic wrote,”The message of the poem is that if someone close to you passes away, you will still have the joyful memories of the time you spent together.” The poem is believed to be about Emily, author of the novel “Wuthering Heights,” who died at 30 of tuberculosis.

Farewell

Farewell to thee! but not farewell
To all my fondest thoughts of thee:
Within my heart, they still shall dwell;
And they shall cheer and comfort me.

O, beautiful, and full of grace!
If thou hadst never met mine eye,
I had not dreamed a living face
Could fancied charms so far outvie.

If I may ne’er behold again
That form and face so dear to me,
Nor hear thy voice, still would I fain
Preserve, for aye, their memory.

That voice, the magic of whose tone
Can wake an echo in my breast,
Creating feelings that, alone,
Can make my tranced spirit blest.

That laughing eye, whose sunny beam
My memory would not cherish less;
And oh, that smile! whose joyous gleam
Nor mortal language can express.

Adieu, but let me cherish, still,
The hope with which I cannot part.
Contempt may wound, and coldness chill,
But still it lingers in my heart.

And who can tell but Heaven, at last,
May answer all my thousand prayers,
And bid the future pay the past
With joy for anguish, smiles for tears?

***

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