Entry 1.3 Poetry Symbolism (Essay 1) - The Horrors of Sleep by Emily Brontë

The Horrors of Sleep

by Emily Brontë

Sleep brings no joy to me.

Rememberance never dies.

My soul is given to mystery,

And lives in sighs.

Sleep brings no rest to me;
The shadows of the dead
My wakening eyes may never see
Surround my bed.

Sleep brings no hope to me,
In soundest sleep they come,
And with their doleful imag'ry
Deepen the gloom.

Sleep brings no strength to me,
No power renewed to brave;
I only sail a wilder sea,
A darker wave.

Sleep brings no friend to me
to soothe and aid to bear;
They all gaze on, how scornfully,
And I despair.

Sleep brings no wish to fret
My harrassed heart beneath;
My only wish is to forget
In endless sleep of death.

This poem I chose is by an English novelist and poet Emily Bronte (Jul 30, 1818 – Dec 19, 1848). She is best known for her novel "Wuthering Heights". She was the second eldest of the Bronte sisters between Charlotte and Anne. It's formed in six paragraphs, where in each paragraphs she talks about her struggle of sleeping. Generally sleeping problems are related to depression and from my observation she wrote this poem with a depressed state of mind. I will break it down to each paragraph with my interpretation.

Sleep brings no joy to me.
Rememberance never dies.
My soul is given to mystery,
And lives in sighs.

In the first paragraph, she is talking about a "joy" sleep supposed to give her. A joy of sleeping usually comes from sexual experience. In that sense "joy" and "rememberance" are related and it gives reader an idea that the reason why she is devastated ; feeling her soul is given to mystery(god, or evil) and living in sighs(troubles, sadness, emotions) are coming from losing the lover that used to bring her joy in sleeping.

Sleep brings no rest to me;
The shadows of the dead
My wakening eyes may never see
Surround my bed.

In this paragraph she is saying sleep doesn't give her any rest. Rest is something fundamental when it comes to sleep and she is not getting it from sleep. Shadows of the dead (dead spirits, souls, ghosts) are surrounding her bed(herself, her room, familiar places) but she may never see them with her wakening eyes(herself being alive, separated from the shadows of the dead). This could also lead to a guess that her lover from the first paragraph (the reason of her depression) maybe dead now.

Sleep brings no hope to me,
In soundest sleep they come,
And with their doleful imag'ry
Deepen the gloom.

From this paragraph we get to know that she "does" sleep sound until they(shadows of the dead) come and make her depressed. These shadows (dead souls) come with their doleful imag'ry (sorrowful faces, sad memories) it makes her more depressed and make it uneasy to sleep and get hope that she could get from sleeping. She may think it's doleful only because she knows them; shadows of the dead maybe her lover, friends or family members that she lost.

Sleep brings no strength to me,
No power renewed to brave;
I only sail a wilder sea,
A darker wave.

This fourth paragraph is related to the second paragraph where she wasn't getting any "rest" from sleeping. Strength is coming from sleeping well and resting. It's a source where human being is getting their energy and power from. Without getting strength and rest from sleep, she is struggling more and more. She sails a wilder sea(having nightmares, sleeping problems). She is clearly suffering from depression; sleeping problem is the first signs of severe depression. Having trouble sleeping and sailing a wilder sea through darker wave; her depression is getting more serious.

Sleep brings no friend to me
to soothe and aid to bear;
They all gaze on, how scornfully,
And I despair.

Here she mentions about getting friend who supposed to soothe aid her to bear; meaning she needs help getting over her struggles and depression. One thing clear is that she knows exactly what she needs from sleeping, or getting over her problems. She knows she needs friend(somebody who'll help her) to soothe and aid (medication, love and support) but instead of helping her and support her they gaze on scornfully and let her struggles.

Sleep brings no wish to fret
My harassed heart beneath;
My only wish is to forget
In endless sleep of death.

In this last paragraph, the word "Sleep" is more powerful than the previous paragraphs. The first "sleep" means resting, and her life that's supposed be, which brings to no wish (hope, positive emotions). Her heart is harassed by the shadows of the dead, her friends who gaze scornfully, and her lost lover who used to bring her joy. She hopes to forget about all the dark memories from sleep endlessly. Interestingly enough, sleep was the one that doesn't bring her anything and made her depressed; she's trying to find the answer, a solution for her problem from sleep. She wishes(think about) suicide, or she could also hoping to get old with her troubles until she gets to the endless sleep and forget about the harsh memories and rough life.