Page:The complete poems of Emily Bronte.djvu/100

46 XX

MY COMFORTER

hast thou spoken, and yet not taught

A feeling strange or new;

Thou hast but roused a latent thought,

A cloud-closed beam of sunshine brought

To gleam in open view.

Deep down, concealed within my soul,

That light lies hid from men;

Yet glows unquenched—though shadows roll,

Its gentle ray cannot control—

About the sullen den.

Was I not vexed, in these gloomy ways

To walk alone so long?

Around me, wretches uttering praise,

Or howling o'er their hopeless days,

And each with Frenzy's tongue;—

A brotherhood of misery,

Their smiles as sad as sighs;

Whose madness daily maddened me,

Distorting into agony

The bliss before my eyes!