“O, dreadful is the check — intense the agony
When the ear begins to hear and the eye begins to see;
When the pulse begins to throb, the brain to think again,
The soul to feel the flesh and the flesh to feel the chain.”
The Prisoner (October 1845)
Context: p>But first a hush of peace, a soundless calm descends;
The struggle of distress and fierce impatience ends
Mute music sooths my breast — unuttered harmony
That I could never dream till earth was lost to me.Then dawns the Invisible; the Unseen its truth reveals;
My outward sense is gone, my inward essence feels —
Its wings are almost free, its home, its harbour found;
Measuring the gulf, it stoops and dares the final bound — O, dreadful is the check — intense the agony
When the ear begins to hear and the eye begins to see;
When the pulse begins to throb, the brain to think again,
The soul to feel the flesh and the flesh to feel the chain.Yet I would lose no sting, would wish no torture less;
The more that anguish racks the earlier it will bless;
And robed in fires of Hell, or bright with heavenly shine
If it but herald Death, the vision is divine —</p
Help us to complete the source, original and additional information
Emily Brontë 151
English novelist and poet 1818–1848Related quotes
Innkeeper's wife
Source: A Child is Born (1942)
Source: 1960s, Counterblast (1969), p. 17
“When a feeling dissolves, it ceases to be your enemy and begins to be one of your allies.”
Source: FAQ - Fri, 31 Oct 2003 Thought Processes http://www.seykota.com/tribe/pages/2003_Oct/Oct_26-31/index.htm
“When you begin to see that your enemy is suffering, that is the beginning of insight.”
Source: Peace Is Every Step: The Path of Mindfulness in Everyday Life
“A systems approach begins when first you see the world through the eyes of another.”
Source: 1960s - 1970s, The Systems Approach (1968), p. 231; cited in Michael C. Jackson (2003) Systems Thinking: Creative Holism for Managers. p. 139
“There comes a moment, when you get lost in the woods, when the woods begin to feel like home.”
Source: The Marriage Plot
“Show me a character whose life arouses my curiosity, and my flesh begins crawling with suspense.”
Los Angeles Times Home Magazine (Feb. 20, 1977)