ASSIGNMENT

SUBMITTED TO: - SIR MUHAMMAD FAHEEM

SUBMITTED BY: SHAWANA USMAN

CLASS: - BS 8th (B)

SUBJECT: - WOMEN LITERATURE

POEM: - COME, WALK WITH ME

Emily Bronte’s poem “Come, walk with me” is a poem that expresses heartfelt emotions
through its language and imagery. There is an undertone of loneliness and melancholy
present here, which is evident in almost all of Emily’s poems. Throughout the poem, the tone
is laden with dark clouds, towering mountains, and faint smiles of moonlight, all indicating a
feeling of pensive sadness. It is difficult to say whether Emily wrote this poem keeping
someone in mind or perhaps it was a character created by her and her sisters. Nonetheless,
one can see that the longing felt by the narrator is one Emily is most definitely familiar with.
Maybe, this poem is a consolation for Emily in the wake of tragedies that followed her since
childhood.

Emily uses imagery to convey the theme of the poem that is nostalgia and melancholy. The
narrator addresses an individual who is the only one that can “bless the spirit” of the speaker.
It is as if the person is the only one left in the narrator’s life.

There is a sense of nostalgia where the speaker keeps on asking the other unknown person to
“woo back old delights”. One can see that there is a deep connection between the two people
and much has changed between them. The clouds and mountains reflect their dark and distant
relationship. Hence, the speaker longs for prior happier days where they “used to love on
winter nights” and “wander through the snow”.

The speaker reminisces the days where they were surrounded by friends and family but now
death has stolen them and they are the only ones left. The speaker has used melancholic
expressions by alluding to death. Death is also highlighted in the poem by strong imagery.
The speaker reminds the readers that death is a dark shadow that looms over everyone and it
is undeniable.

The speaker is disheartened by the fact that years of separation has wounded their friendship
and wonders if they can ever resume their love for one another. He knows that nostalgia and
sadness is not enough to fix their relationship so he leaves it to time to heal their wounds.

POEM: - NO COWARD SOUL IS MINE

No coward soul is mine deals with the theme of death and nature. In most of her poems, death
is highlighted which is linked to Emily’s personal tragedies. She had lost her mother and two
sisters at a very young age. Emily, herself had died at 30 from tuberculosis, and then three
months later, her brother Branwell had passed away from the same disease. This poem No
coward soul is mine tries to make sense of death through the power of faith, as it is sort of a
shadow that has loomed over Emily Bronte’s life.

The speaker, in the poem knows that death is a reality that cannot be ignored but they come
to the conclusion that although death has the power to take life, it cannot harm something that
has been blessed with the spirit of God. Anything that has been granted the spirit of God
“may never be destroyed”. Hence, the physical body can pass on, the soul lives on since God
is their “Being and Breath”. So, the speaker takes solace in the knowledge that whatever
happens to her mortal body will not affect the piece of divinity that live on “within her
breast”.

Emily Bronte was heavily influenced by Romantic authors, that is why readers can find
influence of nature in this poem as well. Emily talks about the untamed and wild nature in
respect to the industrialized and fast-paced world. The speaker, in the poem has connected
splendours of nature as being part of God’s divinity. If humans destroy nature, it will be as if
they are destroying God’s spirit but the speaker comforts herself by saying that the divinity
present in nature will continue to exist even if the corporeal form vanishes.

POEM: - ME THINKS THIS HEART

A recurring theme in Emily Bronte’s poems is that of despair, loneliness and melancholy.
“Me thinks this heart” is a poem that speaks of lost hope for someone who knows their life
will pass in despair. Emily Bronte has painted a very depressing image of life which is clear
from the first line, “me thinks this heart should rest a while”. Theme of hopelessness is
evident from the way the speaker has given up as she keeps on saying how she has no hope
for her future. Bronte uses words to convey the theme of lost hope by saying, “the veiled sun
sheds no parting smile”.

Nature is used to portray the darkness and loneliness felt by Bronte. Bronte has used strong
imagery that suggests her melancholic state of mind. The sun is veiled, cloudy skies, the
absence of “mirth nor music”, all imply the speaker’s loneliness. The grim depiction of the
evening suggests unhappiness and that the speaker’s heart longs for rest.

The speaker talks about how she “sat lonely all day watching” the tress, the sun the valley
and the sad flowers, further implies the above idea that the home she occupies is empty.
Everywhere the speaker looks is dull, dark, wet and misty. All these words give readers an
idea into the mind of the poet and that she suffers from bouts of unhappiness and loneliness.

The speaker sees an image of herself in the natural world where everything fades in “cold
departure”. The poem is laden with melancholic and gloomy atmosphere through the use of
use words such as “gloomy woe”, “dark decline”, “cold” and “lament”.

The melancholic theme is instilled by Bronte’s use of diction. She has used nature to
personify her own life. In the last verses of the poem, she mentions that the flowers are being
blown away by the mist and weighed down by the heaviness of the weather. She sees that the
flowers thrive in summertime but in this gloomy weather, they feel out of place. This idea can
be applied to Bronte’s own life. Just like the flowers “were formed to feel the breeze” and
“wave their light leaves in summer’s glow”, Emily must have also felt that her life was meant
for something far more than what it is and that she deserved to feel happy but knew her fate.
Just like in the end, the flowers whose “lives passed in gloomy woe” and “hopelessness
comes its dark decline”, Emily also became a victim to the cruel tragedy that is death, at the
mere age of thirty.
POEM: - A DEATH SCENE

The very first theme of Emily Bronte's poem, "A death scene" is Death. As evident even from
the poems above, death is dominates Bronte’s works. It is the harsh reality that Emily has
faced from a very young age. From the death of her mother to her two sisters, her own sudden
death, it is something that Emily has not been able to escape. Death is highlighted throughout
this poem. It is a reality which cannot be escaped by anyone. One's departure does not change
anything, life still goes on. It is the cycle of life. In the poem, the lover does not want her
beloved to die,

"O' day! He cannot die when thou so fair art shining!

O sun, in such glorious sky, so tranquillity declining."

These lines suggest that the speaker hopes that her lover remains with her as long as she lives.
It is as if she is begging for a few more moments with her lover.

"True love" and "nature" are also one of the main themes of the poem as the lover is waiting
patiently for her beloved to open his eyes. The speaker wants to experience all the beauty of
nature with him. She knows that her beloved is dying yet she wants to watch the beauty of the
world with him. "Edward, awake, awake-

The golden evening gleams

Warm and bright on Arden's lake-

Arouse thee from thy dreams!"

Positivity and hope are also themes of the poem. The speaker by using words such as
"youthful", "cheerful" and “glowing” shows hope and positivity. The speaker hopes that her
beloved can wake up from his deep slumber. These words are the sign that one has to move
on and look forward in life. However, in the end, the speaker realises that despite her hopeful
words, her lover cannot return to her side.

“So I knew that he was dying —

Stooped, and raised his languid head;

Felt no breath, and heard no sighing,
So I knew that he was dead”.
POEM: - ENCOURAGEMENT

Emily Bronte, once again in her poem “Encouragement” takes death as a theme where it
affirms death as a journey. However, it is described in a hopeful and encouraging tone instead
of melancholic representation of death. The speaker consoles their sisters after the death of
their mother.

“Where her angel spirit fled

Mid heath and frozen snow”

Rather than being sombre about the passing of her mother, the speaker reassures her sisters
that death is a part of life. It is the next step taken into a new life so one should not be afraid
of it and accept it.

Optimism is another theme of this poem. The speaker is saying that they see no reason to
shed tears. The speaker’s mother has passed away. The speaker is encouraging her sisters and
gives strength to her sisters that they shouldn’t be sorrowful that their mother has died but she
is comforted in the heaven. This poem is optimistic as the speaker speaks on her mother’s
death. She encourages their sisters to be strong. The speaker feels protected by the spirit of a
mother. The mother for sure has left this world but her spirit is still around them. She would
remain with them forever in their memories.

POEM: - AUNT JENNIFER’S TIGER (ADRIENNE RICH)

Adrienne Rich reveals the main theme of the poem in a very subtle manner. The main theme
of the poem deals with the patriarchal pressures on women’s femininity or the way some
women are imprisoned in bad marriages with no way out. The wedding band that is rung
tightly around Aunt Jennifer’s fingers suggests her being captive and being smothered. The
poet does not out rightly convey this message but it is evident that Aunt Jennifer has been
through physical and mental torture.

In the beginning of the poem, Aunt Jennifer is painted as some wild and fanatic creature by
mentioning her tiger. However, it is later that the readers find out that she has been a victim
to the crimes of her husband’ the uncle. Her embroidered tigers are her silent struggle and
revolt against the injustices done to her. They are only way she can escape her cruel fate. In
fact, she is a very calm and gentle person who has been made out to be the bad guy in the
beginning.

Femininity is another theme that is pretty toned down and Adrienne Rich has left it to readers
to see whether this poem celebrates femininity or not. When Aunt Jennifer is physically
assaulted, she quietly submits to it instead of standing her ground. She remained quiet and
picked up a needle to calm herself down. However, because of this, many critics say that
women should not silently take whatever is thrown at them. Rather they should learn the art
of defending themselves against injustices. But one must praise Aunt Jennifer for being so
patient and finding a way to cope with her tough life.

This poem also deals with is how such incidents can affect children’s life. The niece silently
observes everything happening with her aunt. One feels empathy for the little niece as she
might have developed an understanding of how a marriage is and what she might also expect
later on. The niece, looking at her aunt who does not stand up for herself must have also
learned that this is the only way a woman must act.