Emily Bronte (1818-1848). Poems. V. The Old Stoic. Alfred H. Miles, ed. 1907. Women Poets of the Nineteenth Century

Alfred H. Miles, ed. Women Poets of the Nineteenth Century. 1907.

Poems.
V. The Old Stoic

By Emily Brontë (1818–1848)


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	5
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;	10
In life and death, a chainless soul,
With courage to endure.