I'm surprised there hasn't been more about the Bronte's poetry on this conference before now. Firstly, I have to confess, I'm no expert on poetry, and usually gain little pleasure from reading it, but the following poem by Anne has always captivated me. Winifred Gerin, who has written biographies of all the Brontes, claims this to be a classic - and certainly Anne's best poem. I've read other remarks suggesting, that while it is a nice poem, it has no 'special' qualities. Any poetry experts out there lik to comment on it? At the bottom of the poem, Anne made the note: 'Composed in the Long Plantation on a wild bright windy day'. The Long Plantation is a wood close to Thorp Green, where she spent five years as a governess with the Robinson family. The last verse is a reference to Scarborough, where she had been with the Robinsons several months earlier. At the southern extreme of Scarborough's 'South Sands', is a giant platform of rock - jutting out several hundred yards into the sea: it is a walk to, and across, these rock that Anne describes in the penultimate chapter of 'Agnes Grey'. I have spent much time in this area, and frequently seen the sea crashing against these rocks - firing great rockets of spray into the air, and I, probably more than most, can appreciate what was going though her mind when she wrote the last verse of this poem. Here is the poem, which she wrote in December 1842: ****** LINES COMPOSED IN A WOOD ON A WINDY DAY My soul is awakened, my spirit is soaring And carried aloft on the wings of the breeze; For above and around me the wild wind is roaring, Arousing to rapture the earth and the seas. The long withered grass in the sunshine is glancing, The bare trees are tossing their branches on high; The dead leaves beneath them are merrily dancing, The white clouds are scudding across the blue sky. I wish I could see how the ocean is lashing The foam of its billows to whirlwinds of spray; I wish I could see how its proud waves are dashing, And hear the wild roar of their thunder today! ****** Mick.