Our dear Charlotte is no more

We commemorate today Charlotte's 152 death anniversary. What we said last year still applies perfectly today.

We mourn a woman's newly-found happiness, we mourn the many stories that died with her, we mourn a woman who in many aspects was ahead of her time and who fought hard. We mourn the avid writer who left us so many treasures we can always turn to.

Life, believe, is not a dream
So dark as sages say;
Oft a little morning rain
Foretells a pleasant day.

Sometimes there are clouds of gloom,
But these are trasient all;
If the shower will make the roses bloom,
O why lament its fall?

Rapidly, merrily,
Life's sunny hours flit by,
Gratefully, cheerily,
Enjoy them as they fly!

What though Death at times steps in
And calls our Best away?
What though sorrow seems to win,
O'er hope, a heavy sway?

Yet hope again elastic springs,
Unconquered, though she fell;
Still buoyant are her golden wings,
Still strong to bear us well.

Manfully, fearlessly,
The day of trial bear,
For gloriously, victoriously,
Can courage quell despair!

(Charlotte Brontë - First published in 1846)

* The subject of this post belongs to a letter Charlotte's husband, Arthur Bell Nicholls, wrote to her lifelong friend Ellen Nussey hours after Charlotte's death.

Categories: Charlotte Brontë, Reminder