My Comforter

My Comforter by Emily Brontë

From Poems by Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell (1846) and reprinted in The Complete Poems of Emily Brontë (1908).

Well 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! So stood I, in Heaven's glorious sun,   And in the glare of Hell; My spirit drank a mingled tone, Of seraph's song, and demon's moan; What my soul bore, my soul alone   Within itself may tell! Like a soft, air above a sea,   Tossed by the tempest's stir; A thaw-wind, melting quietly The snow-drift on some wintry lea; No: what sweet thing resembles thee,   My thoughtful Comforter? And yet a little longer speak,   Calm this resentful mood; And while the savage heart grows meek, For other token do not seek, But let the tear upon my cheek   Evince my gratitude!