Appeal

Description

Appeal by Anne Brontë is a poem that appeared in the volume entitled Poems by Currer, Ellis and Acton Bell, the first volume published by the Brontë sisters under male pseudonyms adopted in order to be taken more seriously (Anne’s poems appeared under the name Acton Bell).

The collection of poems first came out in 1846 without bringing the sisters any major attention. After the failed attempt to establish themselves as poets, all of them turned to prose and became very successful novelists in a very short time, so when the collection of poetry was published again in 1850, it enjoyed a much warmer welcome from the audience and quickly became a commercial success.

The poem starts in a sad mood, describing the speaker in tears. The reason for the sadness is revealed in the second verse: tears flow because of an absent person. The sad note persists even when the future is described – a gloomy perspective and a life of sadness without consolation from the person whose company is so much desired. The appeal from the title goes out to convince that person to return, but it is also revealed that the missing person does not know about the sufferings and the sadness endured by the speaker.

According to some Anne Brontë specialists, the missing person the poem is addressed to is William Weightman, a gentleman that Anne had feelings for, but died before their love could blossom. Other scholars say that the poem was not inspired by a particular event and there are experts who say the feelings expressed in the poem are in fact the emotions that accompany a crisis of faith experienced by the poet earlier, when she was seriously ill, the gloomy atmosphere and the sense of loss being the symptoms of the illness. Whatever the inspiration behind the poem, the three short verses are beautifully written and wonderfully suggestive, even for the modern-day reader.
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