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Another Gondal poem; and again, similar to those that Emily was writing around this period. Anne has signed it with the Gondal name of 'Alexandrina Zenobia'.
Edward Chitham writes: 'It is worth noting that the heroine's anguish is exacerbated by the knowledge that a "kindred" heart is breaking for her; she thinks of him rather than her own plight. Already we find a note of unselfishness in Anne's poems which confirms her report in "Self-Communion":
That heart so prone to overflow
E'en at the thought of other's woe.'
(See also: Chitham, 'The Poems of Anne Brontë', p.62 & p.167)
| Methought I saw him but I knew him not; He was so changed from what he used to be, There was no redness on his woe-worn cheek, No sunny smile upon his ashy lips, His hollow wandering eyes looked wild and fierce, And grief was printed on his marble brow, And O I thought he clasped his wasted hands, And raised his haggard eyes to Heaven, and prayed That he might die -- I had no power to speak, I thought I was allowed to see him thus; And yet I might not speak one single word; I might not even tell him that I lived And that it might be possible if search were made, To find out where I was and set me free, O how I longed to clasp him to my heart, Or but to hold his trembling hand in mine, And speak one word of comfort to his mind, I struggled wildly but it was in vain, I could not rise from my dark dungeon floor, And the dear name I vainly strove to speak, Died in a voiceless whisper on my tongue, Then I awoke, and lo it was a dream! A dream? Alas it was reality! For well I know wherever he may be He mourns me thus -- O heaven I could bear My deadly fate with calmness if there were No kindred hearts to bleed and break for me! Alexandrina Zenobia |
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'The Captive's Dream' | 'The North Wind'  |
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