The Visionary by Emily Bronte, What is the mood or tone, overall emotion of this poem?

Question

Silent is the House-all are laid asleep;
One, alone, looks out o'er the snow wreaths deep;
Watching every cloud, dreading every breeze
That whirls the 'wildering drifts and bends the groaning trees.

Cheerful is the hearth, soft the matted floor;
Not one shivering gust creeps through pane or door;
The little lamp burns straight, its rays shoot strong and far;
I trim it well to be the Wanderer's guiding-star.

Frown, my haughty sire; chide, my angry dame;
Set your slaves to spy, threaten me with shame:
But neither sire nor dame, nor prying serf shall know
What angel nightly tracks that waste of winter snow.

What I love shall come like visitant of air,
Safe in secret power from lurking human snare;
Who loves me, no word of mine shall e'er betray,
Though for faith unstained my life must forfeit pay.

Burn, then, little lamp; glimmer straight and clear
Hush! a rustling wing stirs, methinks, the air:
He for whom I wait, thus ever comes to me;
Strange Power! I trust thy might; trust thou my constancy.

synopsis · Accepted Answer

The overall tone and sense of this poem is one of expectancy.

The Brontes grew up in the Parsonage at Howarth. They were a loving and supporting family (also a fairly large one) but Howarth was remote, and they had few contacts beyond the family.

Almost everything that the Brontes wrote works around the contrast between home which is safe and tedious, and outdoors which is full of excitement and danger. Indoors there may be tragedy (the Brontes lost two of their sisters young, and their mother also died suddenly a few years later) but there is never challenge; outdoors is a challenging, thrilling place (the 'wildering drifts ...... the groaning trees), but it is fraught with peril.

Emily in this poem is poised between the stifling safety of her own hearth and the frightening exhilaration of the heath outside. She yearns for the lover who will come across the snow covered moor bringing her something new, like a breath of fresh air (What I love shall come like visitant of air).

The idea of stale houses and bracing moors is still there in Wuthering Heights. But the vision is much darker by then.

Anonymous · Answer

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The Visionary by Emily Bronte, What is the mood or tone, overall emotion of this poem?

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