Anne Bronte

The Complete Poems of Anne Bronte

The youngest of the well-known Brontë siblings, Anne Brontë (1820-1849) grew up drawing and writing poetry in secret. As a child, Anne spent countless hours on the Yorkshire moors with her sister, Emily, creating an imaginary world called Gondal. Anne attended school at age fifteen, and there she experienced an episode of spiritual crisis, which is evidenced in many of her poems. She later worked as a governess before collaborating with her sisters, Emily and Charlotte, on a collection of poetry in 1846. The sisters used pen names to publish their work - Anne wrote as Acton Bell - to avoid unfair judgment as women writers. Although the collection sold poorly, Anne found a market for her own poetry, and was published in Fraser's Magazine. Unfortunately, her deeply insightful collection of work was cut short by an early death, and is therefore often overshadowed by that of her sisters.