Emily Bronte - Poem: 'Last Lines', (No coward soul is mine) read by Emma Fielding

"Last Lines" is not the actual title of the poem. In fact it has no title at all and is therefore in anthologies sometimes given the first line (No coward soul is mine) as the title. 'Last Lines' is probably inspired by what Charlotte Brontë notes, referring to this poem: "The following are the *last lines* my sister Emily ever wrote."
The poem is dated January 2, 1846.
Emily Dickinson thought so highly of Emily Brontë's poetry that she chose "No coward soul" to be read at her funeral.

I also note some discrepancies in the text as recited by Emma Fielding.
In the seventh stanza, first line, I read "though earth and man were gone", whereas miss Fielding reads 'moon' i.s.o. 'man. In the last stanza, third line, she replaces the first 'thou' by 'since'. Carelesness?

Category:

Education

Tags:

• English
• poetry
• Emily
• Bronte
• Last
• Lines
• Emma
• Fielding

[DoctorMate]

The picture above the poem is that of Emily's sister, Charlotte Brontë.

[Klemperer]

I used to bike around Heidelberg and recite this poem for months while driving, some thought I was slightly mad^^. In fact the last lines Emily Bronte wrote were not these (like Charlotte wrote), but "Why ask to know what date, what clime", May 13, 1848, a Gondal poem.

Concerning the reading: Emma Fielding reads the right version^^(it is "moon", and 'since' is right too, see Juliet Barker, The Brontes, 2010, p.570f, or E.B. poems, penguin, p.182). Thanks a lot for this poem, metrisch!