Found it!

Thanks to Mrs Bhutia who obviously has better google skills than yours truly, I now know the title and the full Bronte's poem I blogged about last Friday!

I'm reproducing the entire poem here. As Mrs Bhutia commented, what a great way to start the work week :)

EVENING SOLACE

by: Charlotte Bronte (1816-1855)

HE human heart has hidden treasures,
In secret kept, in silence sealed;--
The thoughts, the hopes, the dreams, the pleasures,
Whose charms were broken if revealed.
And days may pass in gay confusion,
And nights in rosy riot fly,
While, lost in Fame's or Wealth's illusion,
The memory of the Past may die.

But there are hours of lonely musing,
Such as in evening silence come,
When, soft as birds their pinions closing,
The heart's best feelings gather home.
Then in our souls there seems to languish
A tender grief that is not woe;
And thoughts that once wrung groans of anguish
Now cause but some mild tears to flow.

And feelings, once as strong as passions,

Float softly back--a faded dream;
Our own sharp griefs and wild sensations,
The tale of others' sufferings seem.
Oh! when the heart is freshly bleeding,
How longs it for that time to be,
When, through the mist of years receding,
Its woes but live in reverie!

And it can dwell on moonlight glimmer,
On evening shade and loneliness;
And, while the sky grows dim and dimmer,
Feel no untold and strange distress--
Only a deeper impulse given
By lonely hour and darkened room,
To solemn thoughts that soar to heaven
Seeking a life and world to come.

Which poem...?

I was cleaning up some books when a handwritten piece of paper fell out from one of them. It had, what I believe, a stanza from a love poem. I wonder who wrote it and when or why it was in one of my books. I can't recognise the handwriting; it's certainly not mine.

I googled the stanza and found that it is attributed to Charlotte Bronte. I'm dying to know which poem of her's this came from. If anyone knows, leave me a message or email me (dramamama70/at/gmail/dot/com), please!

In the meantime, here's the stanza that I am currently in love with. Enjoy this and the weekend.

The human heart has hidden treasures,
In secret kept, in silence sealed;
The thoughts, the hopes, the dreams, the pleasures,
Whose charms were broken if revealed.

Lost and found

I was going to clean out the bookshelf that I share with Farah (she's complaining she's running out of shelf space) when I chanced upon "Victorian Verse", an old book which I used to study for my GCE 'A' English Literature exam.

As I thumbed the yellowed pages of the book, I saw this lovely poem, by Lord De Tabley:

Nuptial Song
'Sigh, heart, break not'

Sigh, heart, and break not; rest, lark and wake not!
Day I hear coming to draw my Love away.
As mere-waves whisper, and clouds grow crisper,
Ah, like a rose he will waken up with day.

In moon-light lonely, he is my Love only,
I share with none when Luna rides in grey.
As dawn-beams quicken, my rivals thicken,
The light and deed and turmoil of the day.

To watch my sleeper to me is sweeter,
Than any waking words my love can say;
In dream he finds me and closer winds me!
Let him rest by me a little more and stay.

Ah, mine eyes, close not; and, tho' he knows not,
My lips, on his be tender while you may;
Ere leaves are shaken, and ring-doves waken,
And infant buds begin to scent new day.

Fair Darkness, measure thine hours, as treasure
Shed each one slowly from thine urn, I pray;
Hoard in and cover each from my lover;
I cannot lose him yet; dear night, delay.

Each moment dearer, true-love, lie nearer,
My hair shall blind thee lest thou see the ray;
My locks encumber thine ears in slumber,
Lest any bird dare give thee note of day.

He rests so calmly; we lie so warmly;
Hand within hand, as children after play; -
In shafted amber on roof and chamber
Dawn enters; my Love awakens; here is day. [1893]

Funny how this poem speaks to me differently now, than when I was 18 and mugging for an exam :)

Giving up is hard to do

I have been trying to read and enjoy the latest Man Booker Prize book, The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai. And at chapter 28, I am giving up. I am just not connecting with the characters and the story. I could usually finish a book in 2-3 weeks but it's been 2 months. I don't give up on reading a book that much, so this is a big deal for me.

Mrs Bhutia reminded me that the only other time I gave up was A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth. And she also reminded me how pained I was at the thought of giving up (she actually said I was whiny!) and another round of pain when I did finally give up and gave away the book. That was a big feat - the book was in two parts and I bought both, thinking I would be able to devour every page. But, it wasn't meant to be. I got lost with so many characters and details that didn't contribute to the plot.

Lest you think I have problems reading books by Indian authors, I did enjoy The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy.

So now, I am reading The Tipping Point, by Malcolm Gladwell. I'm giving novels a rest for now, until something else catches my attention.

For God and Country - James Yee

I read this book earlier this year but never got around to blog about it. When I first heard of the book, I knew I had to read it. Thank goodness for Amazon, since I couldn't get this book locally.

I was intrigued by the controversy that surrounded this Muslim Chaplain and his experience at the infamous Guantanamo Bay prison - as a Chaplain and then as a prisoner himself.

I found the writing style to be almost amateurish, yet that's the exact reason why I thought it credible and readable. I was looking for anecdotes and facts, and these were convincingly presented in the book. I empathised with his frustrations and the challenges he faced, as the powers came down with various allegations against him - treason, character assassination, the works. None of the charges that were levelled against him stuck.

I was disgusted by Yee's description of the conditions of the prison. And the treatment that these "prisoners" went through. The mental anguish and torture were beyond belief.

With the Democrats taking control of the US Congress, (thanks to Dunner who explained it all to me) I'll be keeping an eye out on any inquiries into Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib.