To Cowper and other poems : autograph manuscript of 9 poems, signed, 1842–1845
Purchased by Pierpont Morgan, 1900
How can you talk of bliss joy and rapture then?
May God withhold such cruel bliss joy from me!
That none deserve to live eternal bliss I fully know
Unmerrited the grace in Mercy given
But, none shall sink to everlasting wo
But those That have not well deserved the wrath of Heaven,
And O! there lives within my heart
A hope, long nursed by me,
(And should its cheering ray depart
How dark my soul would be)
That as in Adam all have died
In Christ shall all men live
And ever round his throne abide
Eternal thanks praise to give
Text as published in Poems (1846)
How can you talk of joy and rapture then?—
May God withhold such cruel joy from me!
That none deserve eternal bliss I know;
Unmerited the grace in mercy given:
But, none shall sink to everlasting woe,
That have not well deserved the wrath of Heaven.
And, oh! There lives within my heart
A hope, long nursed by me;
(And, should its cheering ray depart,
How dark my soul would be!)
That as in Adam all have died,
In Christ shall all men live;
And ever round his throne abide,
Eternal praise to give.
“A Word to the Calvinists” (pp. 18–21)
Dated 28 May 1843, when Brontë was twenty-three. First published in Poems (1846) with title “A Word to the ‘Elect.’” Poem 22 in Chitham (1979).