Emily Brontë’s Tears

Emily Brontë, born 30 July 1818 is famous for her only novel, “Wuthering Heights” (1847). But she was also a poet and left behind some beautiful poems she wrote before dying of tuberculosis, at just 30 years of age.

Here is an eight-line poem, about a heart filled with pain, close to falling apart.

She dried her tears, and they did smile
To see her cheeks’ returning glow;
Nor did discern how all the while
That full heart throbbed to overflow.

With that sweet look and lively tone,
And bright eye shining all the day,
They could not guess, at midnight lone
How she would weep the time away.

Si asciugò le lacrime e sorrisero
nel veder che le guance tornavano a scintillare;
senza capire come per tutto il tempo
il cuore gonfio stava per straripare.

Con quello sguardo dolce, il tono brioso,
e gli occhi che risplendevano tutto il giorno,
non potevano indovinare che a mezzanotte, sola,
avrebbe pianto quel tempo senza ritorno.
(Trad: L.Z.)

_{Image: Man Ray – Larmes (cropped) (www.getty.edu/art/collection/objects/37756/man-ray-larmes-tears-american-about-1932)}