Cold in the Earth

1. Cold in the Earth Emily Bronte

3. Cold In The Earth Cold in the earth, and the deep snow piled above thee! Far, far removed, cold in the dreary grave! Have I forgot, my Only Love, to love thee, Severed at last by Time’s all-wearing wave? Now, when alone, do my thoughts no longer hover Over the mountains on Angora’s shore; Resting their wings where heath and fern-leaves cover That noble heart for ever, ever more? Cold in the earth, and fifteen wild Decembers From those brown hills have melted into spring – Faithful indeed is the spirit that remembers After such years of change and suffering! Sweet Love of youth, forgive if I forget thee While the World’s tide is bearing me along: Sterner desires and darker hopes beset me, Hopes which obscure but cannot do thee wrong. • What imagery is generated in the 1st stanza and to what effect? • What is the effect of the capitalisation in lines 3 and 4? • What does she mean by “all-wearing wave”? • What is the name of the meter Bronte uses? What is the effect of this meter? • How long ago did her ‘Only Love’ die? Stanza 3 and what is the significance of the final two lines in stanza 3? • What is the effect of the alliteration in stanza 4? • What is the effect of the repetition of ‘Cold in the earth’ – title, stanzas 1 and 3 • In stanza 4 she is apologising for what? And why?

4. Cold In The Earth No other Sun has lightened up my heaven; No other Star has ever shone for me: All my life’s bliss from thy dear life was given – All my life’s bliss is in the grave with thee. But when the days of golden dreams had perished And even Despair was powerless to destroy, Then did I learn how existence could be cherished, Strengthened and fed without the aid of joy; Then did I check the tears of useless passion, Weaned my young soul from yearning after thine; Sternly denied its burning wish to hasten Down to that tomb already more than mine! And even yet, I dare not let it languish, Dare not indulge in Memory’s rapturous pain; Once drinking deep of that divinest anguish, How could I seek the empty world again? • Identify as many techniques as you can in these final 4 stanzas. • What is the effect of the repetition and parallel structure in stanza 5? • What is the effect of the two oxymorons in the final stanza? • How has the persona learnt to control her grief? • What does Emily Bronte seem to be saying about the process of grieving and the state of grief? • What is the significance of the final line?

5. GET FLIRTY!!! • Focus on the form of the poem , looking at the structure, punctuation, line lengths and the arrangement of the poem’s stanzas. How do these features add interest and meaning to the poem? Also examine the arrangements of the words, phrases and sentences in the poem. • Examine the language used in the poem, looking at the meaning of words and whether they have negative or positive connotations. • Look at the techniques, imagery and sound devices, alliteration, that has been used? How do these techniques bring out the main themes and ideas in the poem? • How does the poet make use of rhyme (end and internal), repetition and rhythm? Why does she do this? • What are the poet’s main ideas that she brings out in the poem and how does he do this? Explain the feelings that the poet conveys throughout the poem. Describe the poet’s attitude to his subject. Does this change as the poem progresses? Carefully examine the tone throughout the poem and find vocabulary to back up your discussion. • How do you react to this poem? Does it bring any particular thoughts to mind? Which poems would you compare this one with? F L I R T Y

6. Emily BrontëCold in the Earth • One of the famous three Brontë sisters, with Charlotte and Anne, Emily was born in 1818. She is perhaps best known as the author of the novel Wuthering Heights, but the quality of her poetry was recognised by her sister Charlotte, who felt ‘a deep conviction that these were not common effusions, not at all like the poetry women generally write.’ She died of tuberculosis in 1848. • http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/emily-jane-bronte • Go to poetryfoundation

7. Emily BrontëCold in the Earth • Brontë’s speaker in this poem attempts to reconcile deep grief at the loss of ‘my Only Love’ with necessity of continuing to live in ‘the empty world’. The last stanza’s oxymorons make clear the almost sensual attraction of indulging in grief’s ‘rapturous pain’ and ‘divinest anguish’, but the centre of the poem deals with survival and the admission that other thoughts and considerations occasionally cause the departed lover to be forgotten and obscured as the speaker is borne along on ‘the World’s tide’. • The early part of the poem is dominated by language and imagery associated with the ‘Cold’ of the title – consider all the implications of cold in this context. One of the implications is the permanence of death and this is contrasted with the changes which are an inevitable part of life. The surviving lover’s ‘years’ are marked by ‘suffering’ but also ‘change’. Note how the poem stretches these two potentially contradictory impulses, between living and changing (‘those brown hills have melted into spring’) and constant fidelity (‘No other Sun has lighted up my heaven’). • Consider how the alternate rhymes in the four-line stanzas give emphasis to some of the poem’s key ideas. Stanzas 3 and 7 end with exclamations, while the opening stanzas and the final one end with questions. What do you think are the effects of these choices?

8. Compare with • One Art Elizabeth Bishop • Because I Could Not Stop for Death Emily Dickinson • Elegy for My Father’s Father James K. Baxter • A Dream William Allingham • Time’s Fool Ruth Pitter • A Quoi Bon Dire Charlotte Mew • from The Ballad of Reading Gaol Oscar Wilde Further reading: http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/bronte/ebronte/index.html