The following is an excerpt from my favorite part of the book, in which Jane hears Mr. Rochester calling from afar:
All the house was still; for I believe
all, except St. John and myself, were now retired
to rest. The one candle was dying out: the room was full of moonlight.
My heart
beat fast and thick: I heard its throb. Suddenly it stood still to an inexpressible
feeling that thrilled it through, and passed at once to my head and extremities.
The
feeling was not like an electric shock, but it was quite as sharp, as strange,
as
startling: it acted on my senses as if their utmost activity hitherto had
been but
torpor, from which they were now summoned and forced to wake. They rose
expectant: eye and ear waited while the flesh quivered on my bones.
"What have you heard? What do you see?" asked St. John. I saw nothing,
but I
heard a voice somewhere cry -
"Jane! Jane! Jane!"--nothing more.
"O God! what is it?" I gasped.
I might have said, "Where is it?" for it did not seem in the room-- nor
in the
house--nor in the garden; it did not come out of the air- -nor from under
the
earth--nor from overhead. I had heard it-- where, or whence, for ever impossible
to
know! And it was the voice of a human being--a known, loved, well-remembered
voice--that of Edward Fairfax Rochester; and it spoke in pain and woe,
wildly,
eerily, urgently.
"I am coming!" I cried. "Wait for me! Oh, I will come!" I flew to the door
and looked
into the passage: it was dark. I ran out into the garden: it was void.
"Where are you?" I exclaimed.
The hills beyond Marsh Glen sent the answer faintly back--"Where are you?"
I
listened. The wind sighed low in the firs: all was moorland loneliness
and midnight
hush.
"Down superstition!" I commented, as that spectre rose up black by the
black yew
at the gate. "This is not thy deception, nor thy witchcraft: it is the
work of nature.
She was roused, and did--no miracle--but her best."
I broke from St. John, who had followed, and would have detained me. It
was MY
time to assume ascendency. MY powers were in play and in force. I told
him to
forbear question or remark; I desired him to leave me: I must and would
be alone.
He obeyed at once. Where there is energy to command well enough, obedience
never fails. I mounted to my chamber; locked myself in; fell on my knees;
and
prayed in my way--a different way to St. John's, but effective in its own
fashion. I
seemed to penetrate very near a Mighty Spirit; and my soul rushed out in
gratitude
at His feet. I rose from the thanksgiving--took a resolve--and lay down,
unscared,
enlightened-- eager but for the daylight.
(Chapter 35)
To read more, you can find the e-text of Jane Eyre at Literature.org.
Read all about Charlotte Brontë on the Victorian Web. This site includes biography, analysis of her work, and lots of neat stuff.
Also of interest, a musical of Jane Eyre is in the works. For more information, go to the official website.
Previous poets:
Frank Bidart
Elizabeth Bishop
Carlo Goldoni
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