Roderic

by EMILY BRONTË (1818-1848)

Dec. 18th 1843

LIE down & rest, the fight is done,
Thy comrades to the camp retire;
Gaze not so earnestly upon
The far gleam of the beacon fire.

0 list not to the wind-born sounds,
Of music and of soldiers cheer;
Thou canst not go remember wounds,
Exhaust thy life & hold thee here.

Had that hand power to raise the sword
Which since this morn laid many low ;
Had that tongue strength to speak ye word,
That urged thy followers on the foe;

Were that warm blood within thy veins
Which now upon the earth is flowing,
Splashing its sod with crimson stains
Redding the pale heath round thee growing

Then Roderic, thou mightest still be turning
With eager eye and anxious breast
To where those signal lights are burning,
To where thy war-worn comrades rest.

But never more look up and see
The twilight fading from the skies
That last dim beam that sets for thee
Roderic; for thee shall never rise!

Emily Brontë is considered by many to be the greatest writer of the three Brontë sisters – Charlotte, Emily and Anne. Emily published only one novel, WUTHERING HEIGHTS, in 1847, a dark story of doomed love and revenge, translated to film many times, acclaimed as one of the most intense works of English literature.

Emily Brontë Contemporaries
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