Poetry - the mirror that permits us to reflect on life

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The Brontes; marooned in their Haworth parsonage on the edge of the wild moors. Writing thrilling, visceral and untamed literature that touches the deep core of our beings. At the risk of sounding like a Sixth Form essay, I want to spend a few Good Friday moments on Emily Bronte's Last Lines; a poem which explores the role of God in our lives.

This poem is a powerful Good Friday reading. Traditionally Good Friday is a time when we are looking for hope and reflecting on the coming resurrection. The language of the poem is a powerful; full of imagery of being tossed on life's ocean. There is a stunning series of verbs "changes, sustains, dissolves, creates, and rears" which encapsulate the circle of life.

Last Lines is a poem which should be read slowly, giving listeners time to reflect. The main trap for a reader is the enjambment (when the sense runs on to the next line) which needs to be respected in order to convey meaning.

Emily Bronte only lived for thirty years but, in Last Lines, she leaves an eternal legacy which reminds us of the central role God can play "Thou are Being and Breath" and the hope which this can provide. At a time in the cycle of the religious year in which joy is symbolically removed from the world with Jesus's death, this poem prepares us for the resurrection and is a reminder that there will always be the "wide-embracing" love of God.

">To read the poem in full

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