Last things : Emily Brontë's poems

196 Pages·2007·0.827 MB·English

by  Janet Gezari

LAST THINGS
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Last Things
Emily Bront¨e’s Poems
JANET GEZARI
1
1
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Acknowledgements
This book has been a long time in the making, and I have many
obligations that will go unmentioned. Like all those who write about
the Bronte¨s, I have an immediate debt to the scholars who have come
beforeme.TheyincludeMargaretSmith,whosemagesterialeditionof
CharlotteBronte¨’slettershas become indispensable,and Juliet Barker,
whosebiographyhasmadesomuchnewinformationaboutthelivesof
theBronte¨savailable.IamgratefultoConnecticutCollegeforresearch
grants supporting this project and to the American Bronte¨ Society
and Theresa Connors, who invited me to address an enthusiastic and
informedaudienceattheNewYorkmeetinginthespringof2003,where
I presented a shortened version of Chapter 7. Friends and colleagues
who have read the typescript during its course of development and
provided necessary advice and criticism include John Fyler, Charles
Hartman,WillardSpiegelman,ChristopherRicks,andVanessaGezari.
IamgratefultoOxfordUniversityPressforitsdedicationtotheBronte¨s,
toAndrewMcNeillieforhissupportforthisproject,andtothepress’s
tworeaders,ChristineAlexanderandAlisonChapman,whoconfirmed
mysenseofwhatIwasdoingandprovidedgenuinelyhelpfulcriticism.
AversionofChapter3appearedinELH in1999.
ThepublisherswishtothanktheBronte¨ParsonageMuseumLibrary
and the British Library for permission to reproduce holograph manu-
scripts in theircollections,and Faber and Faber Ltd. (UK and World)
and Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, LLC (US) for permission to reprint
‘Emily Bronte¨’ from Collected Poems by Ted Hughes. Copyright 2003
byTheEstateofTedHughes.Althougheveryefforthasbeenmadeto
establishcopyrightandcontactcopyrightholderspriortoprinting,the
publishers would be pleased to rectifyany omissions or errors brought
totheirnoticeattheearliestopportunity.
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Contents
ListofFigures x
ANoteonTexts xi
1. AndFirst 1
2. LastThings 8
3. Fathoming‘Remembrance’ 41
4. OutcomesandEndings 59
5. Fragments 79
6. TheFirstLastThing 106
7. PosthumousBronte¨ 126
Notes 151
Bibliography 169
Index 179