Whitman Sampler (& Bronte)

My last post centered on a quote by Emily Bronte. Most people know her as a novelist, the author of Wuthering Heights, but she was a poet as well (as were all her siblings, but she was the most talented poet in the family).

While writing my last post, I decided to go back and reread some of her poetry. Here is one I came across.

I'm happiest when most away
I can bear my soul from its home of clay
On a windy night when the moon is bright
And the eye can wander through worlds of light --

When I am not and none beside --
Nor earth nor sea nor cloudless sky --
But only spirit wandering wide
Through infinite immensity.

The theme reminds me of the following poem written in 1881 by Walt Whitman.

This is the hour, O soul, thy free flight into the wordless,
Away from books, away from art, the day erased, the lesson done,
Thee fully forth emerging, silent, gazing, pondering the themes thou lovest best:
Night, sleep, death, and the stars.