EMILY BRONTË

[1818–1848]

Riches I hold in light esteem

Emily Brontë (1818–1848) was the fifth of six children, three of whom (herself, Charlotte, and Anne) became famous novelists. Like her siblings she was brought up by her aunt at Haworth in Yorkshire, where her father was a clergyman. Emily was educated at home and spent the rest of her life there, near the wild Yorkshire moors she loved. Charlotte sent some of the sisters’ poetry to be published, under pseudonyms, in 1846, but the venture was not successful; the Brontës then turned to writing novels. Emily is best known for the novel Wuthering Heights.

Riches I hold in light esteem

And Love I laugh to scorn

And lust of Fame was but a dream

That vanished with the morn—

And if I pray, the only prayer

That moves my lips for me

Is—“Leave the heart that now I bear

And give me liberty.”

Yes, as my swift days near their goal

’Tis all that I implore—

Through life and death, a chainless soul

With courage to endure!