You may have noticed that last Sunday marked a very rare occurrence in this blog – my weekly post failed to appear! Really sorry about that, I was at sea on a Scandinavian cruise and I ran into technical problems with the blog – I’m back in Blighty now so please accept my apologies and here, slightly delayed, is my post on the Brontës at sea.
Sailing can be a wonderful thing; looking out at a great expanse of blue sea as far as the eye can be is an exhilarating and yet at the same time tranquil experience. I’ve absolutely loved my time on a cruise ship exploring Scandinavia and Germany. The Brontës themselves never visited those regions, but they did (or at least Charlotte Brontë did) write about the sea in letters and in novels. In today’s post we’re going to look at the Brontës and the sea.
Before that, let’s look at the Brontë sister who perhaps loved the sea more than any other – and yet she never sailed on it. Anne Brontë loved Scarborough more than anywhere, and this resort’s highlights were the wild waves and sea foam crashing upon its beaches. Anne drew this beautiful picture of a sunrise over the sea, and it appears to be Anne herself shielding her eyes and looking out at the horizon.
Charlotte Brontë too was entranced by the sea, and we have an account from Ellen Nussey of the first time she ever saw the sea in person:
‘The day but one after their capture they walked to the sea, and as soon as they were near enough for Charlotte to see it in its expanse, she was quite over-powered, she could not speak till she had shed some tears she signed to her friend to leave her and walk on; this she did for a few steps, knowing full well what Charlotte was passing through, and the stern efforts she was making to subdue her emotions her friend turned to her as soon as she thought she might without inflicting pain; her eyes were red and swollen, she was still trembling, but submitted to be led onwards where the view was less impressive; for the remainder of the day she was very quiet, subdued, and exhausted. Distant glimpses of the German Ocean had been visible as the two friends neared the coast on the day of their arrival, but Charlotte being without her glasses, could not see them, and when they were described to her, she said, “Don’t tell me any more. Let me wait.”’
Charlotte wrote here of the positive side of the se here, but she also wrote of the destructive power of the sea in her equally powerful ending to Villette:
“The sun passes the equinox; the days shorten, the leaves grow sere; but – he is coming.
Frosts appear at night; November has sent his fogs in advance; the wind takes its autumn moan; but – he is coming.
The skies hang full and dark – a wrack sails from the west; the clouds cast themselves into strange forms – arches and broad radiations; there rise resplendent mornings – glorious, royal, purple as monarch in his state; the heavens are one flame; so wild are they, they rival battle at its thickest – so bloody, they shame Victory in her pride. I know some signs of the sky; I have noted them ever since childhood. God watch that sail! Oh! guard it!
The wind shifts to the west. Peace, peace, Banshee – “keening” at every window! It will rise – it will swell – it shrieks out long: wander as I may through the house this night, I cannot lull the blast. The advancing hours make it strong: by midnight, all sleepless watchers hear and fear a wild south-west storm. That storm roared frenzied, for seven days. It did not cease till the Atlantic was strewn with wrecks: it did not lull till the deeps had gorged their full of sustenance. Not till the destroying angel of tempest had achieved his perfect work, would he fold the wings whose waft was thunder – the tremor of whose plumes was storm.”
Peace, be still! Oh! a thousand weepers, praying in agony on waiting shores, listened for that voice, but it was not uttered – not uttered till; when the hush came, some could not feel it: till, when the sun returned, his light was night to some!”
Sailing today is very different to sailing in Monsieur Paul Emanuel’s time, and I loved every minute of my cruise on board Saga’s Spirit Of Adventure ship. The ship itself is beautiful, the entertainment was great and the staff could not have been friendlier – and that’s my honest opinion, I’ve not been asked to say it or paid to say it. If you’re over 50 and looking for an all inclusive holiday on the seas, I highly recommend any of their cruises.
I was on the ship to deliver two lectures, on the gunpowder plot, and on the Brontës In Love, and I’m very pleased to say that they were both very well received, and well attended in a beautiful theatre. It’s always great to see how many people are still wanting to hear about the Brontës and their work – and I certainly hope to talk on more cruises in the future.
Now back on dry land my schedule should return to normal and technical gremlins should be banished, so I hope to see you here next week, ship shape and happy, for another new Brontë blog post.