Poems by Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell

Charlotte Bronte · Emily Bronte · Anne Bronte

Jun. 2014 · The Floating Press

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Fans of the Bronte sisters should add this remarkable volume of poetry to their must-read list. Initially released in 1846, this volume was the first work published by any of the sisters. In order to protect their identities and avoid the condescension often directed at female writers during the period, the Bronte sisters used gender-neutral pen names. Though the volume did not fare well commercially in its first printing, it became a success later after the sisters' novels gained popularity.

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Emily Bronte, the sister of Charlotte, shared the same isolated childhood on the Yorkshire moors. Emily, however, seems to have been much more affected by the eerie desolation of the moors than was Charlotte. Her one novel, Wuthering Heights (1847), draws much of its power from its setting in that desolate landscape. Emily's work is also marked by a passionate intensity that is sometimes overpowering. According to English poet and critic Matthew Arnold, "for passion, vehemence, and grief she had no equal since Byron." This passion is evident in the poetry she contributed to the collection (Poems by Currer, Ellis and Acton Bell) published by the Bronte sisters in 1846 under male pseudonyms in response to the prejudices of the time. Her passion reached far force, however, in her novel, Wuthering Heights. Bronte's novel defies easy classification. It is certainly a story of love, but just as certainly it is not a "love story". It is a psychological novel, but is so filled with hints of the supernatural and mystical that the reader is unsure of how much control the characters have over their own actions. It may seem to be a study of right and wrong, but is actually a study of good and evil. Above all, it is a novel of power and fierce intensity that has gripped readers for more than 100 years.