In Memory of a Happy Day in February / Anne Brontë

In Memory of a Happy Day in February

Blessed be Thou for all the joy
        My soul has felt to-day!
Oh, let its memory stay with me,
        And never pass away!

I was alone, for those I loved
        Were far away from me;
The sun shone on the withered grass,
        The wind blew fresh and free.

Was it the smile of early spring
        That made my bosom glow?
'Twas sweet; but neither sun nor wind
        Could cheer my spirit so.

Was it some feeling of delight
        All vague and undefined?
No; 'twas a rapture deep and strong,
        Expanding in the mind.

Was it a sanguine view of life,
        And all its transient bliss,
A hope of bright prosperity?
        Oh, no! it was not this.

It was a glimpse of truth divine
        Unto my spirit given,
Illumined by a ray of light
        That shone direct from heaven.

I felt there was a God on high,
        By whom all things were made;
I saw His wisdom and His power
        In all his works displayed.

But most throughout the moral world,
        I saw his glory shine;
I saw His wisdom infinite,
        His mercy all divine.

Deep secrets of His providence,
        In darkness long concealed,
Unto the vision of my soul
        Were graciously revealed.

But while I wondered and adored
        His Majesty divine,
I did not tremble at His power:
        I felt that God was mine;

I knew that my Redeemer lived;
        I did not fear to die;
Full sure that I should rise again
        To immortality.

I longed to view that bliss divine,
        Which eye hath never seen;
Like Moses, I would see His face
        Without the veil between.

~~
Anne Brontë (1820-1849)
from Poems by Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell, 1846

[Poem is in the public domain worldwide]

Anne Brontë biography

Albert Marquet  (1875–1947), Woman in Blue, La Frette, Winter, 1940 (detail). 

Pujblic domain. Wikimedia Commons