To Cowper and other poems : autograph manuscript of 9 poems, signed, 1842–1845
Purchased by Pierpont Morgan, 1900
“The Captive Dove” (pp. 11–13)
Dated 31 October 1843, but “Mostly written in the spring of 1842,” when Brontë was twenty-two. First published in Poems (1846). Poem 24 in Chitham (1979).
Its wired walls confine thee [?] slender wires delude thine eyes
And quench thy longings with despair.
O! thou wert made to wander free
In sunny mead and shady grove,
And far beyond the rolling sea
In distant climes at will to rove.
But Yet hadst thou but one gentle mate
Thy little drooping heart to cheer
And share with thee thy captive state
Thou couldst be happy even there.
Yes even there if listening [there or thou] bye
One faithful dear companion stood
Text as published in Poems (1846)
Its slender wires delude thine eyes,
And quench thy longings with despair.
Oh, thou wert made to wander free
In sunny mead and shady grove,
And, far beyond the rolling sea,
In distant climes, at will to rove!
Yet, hadst thou but one gentle mate
Thy little drooping heart to cheer,
And share with thee thy captive state,
Thou couldst be happy even there.
Yes, even there, if, listening by,
One faithful dear companion stood,
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