Identity and emotion in The Night is Darkening Round Me and I Am

Artistic creations like poetry often feel so meaningful because they provide an insight into the experience and emotions of the creators. The Night is Darkening Round Me & I Am both convey the difficulties of poets that are at a disadvantage in the society in which they live. They both communicate the feeling of being looked down upon or held back, however The Night is Darkening Round me also communicates the poet’s perseverance. They also both use natural imagery to describe their subject. Emily Brontë, who wrote The Night is Darkening Round Me, had to continuously fight against sexism in order to succeed in her career. This determination requires both stubbornness and a method of escape in order to be sustained. These ideas are represented in the poem through constant emphasis on a refusal to be moved. John Clare, the poet who wrote I Am, had to fight against his own struggles stemming from poverty. I Am communicates his struggles in life from a more helpless viewpoint, portraying no will to continue fighting. Although both poems represent similar experiences, the difference in perspective and tone results in very different feelings invoked. Brontë provided a perspective of strength and resistance, while Clare provided a perspective of gloom and defeat.

Historically, women were not respected in careers, including creative professions. The Night is Darkening Round Me represents the struggles that Brontë faced as a woman working as a poet, during the Romantic Era. The poem portrays how she was put at a disadvantage, but also how stubborn she was in pursuing her goals. The second stanza closes by saying “The storm is fast descending, And yet I cannot go.” (Brontë, The Night is Darkening Round Me) In relation to Brontë’s life, this represents how oppressive the world was around her, but she couldn’t find it in herself to give up. The poem is written virtually entirely using metaphors. “But a tyrant spell has bound me,” (Brontë, The Night is Darkening Round Me). This metaphor in particular is very relevant. A ruler’s spell trapping her works as a metaphor for society forcing women into certain roles. Saying that a “tyrant” is binding her is significant due to the power that such a ruler possesses. A tyrant is a ruler with complete power and is often a cruel ruler. This contrasts how little power women had. Another method used by Brontë to reveal her emotion and identity is the rhyming scheme of her poem. She uses the pattern of ABAB. This structure is used to insist on a point, in the way it rhymes. Not only does the poem rhyme, but it continuously repeats the same idea. The rhythm of the rhymes makes it feel like a mantra and highlights her tenacity. A journal article by Edward Hirsch supports the interpretation that the poem describes perseverance through adversity. “I knew the double meaning of the word ‘move.’ So the gloomy storm couldn’t affect me, or make me give way. I wouldn’t budge. I asserted: ‘I will not, cannot go.’” (Three Initiations: A Column, 45) Hirsch describes how different points in the poem convey being unaffected by the forces holding one back, and refusing to give up. In the context of Brontë’s life as a female poet in the 1800s, Hirsch’s interpretation plays into her attempt to make an impression in the world of poetry. She worked to succeed despite the barriers put in her way. The Night is Darkening Round Me can alternatively be interpreted with consideration of the fantasy world created by Brontë. This world was ruled by women, and was used as a form of escapism from the sexist society in which she lived. She refused to leave her dreams to face the real world. “But a tyrant spell has bound me,” (Brontë, The Night is Darkening Round Me) In this interpretation, she is not referring to being bound to her role, but bound to her fantasies; the word “tyrant” representing the female rulers in this world she created. She felt bound to her dreams.

The circumstances of one’s life greatly influence the path to success and stability. I Am is a poem that induces very negative emotions, as it tackles the different aspects of Clare’s life that held him back from the future he desired. During the Romantic Era, poets were expected to be wealthy and blend in well in upper class circles. Being of a lower class, held Clare back from many opportunities. Describing himself, Clare wrote: “I am—yet what I am none cares or knows;” (Clare, I Am) This explains that he was overlooked and disregarded. In the Romantic Era one had to be wealthy to be respected, especially in regards to poetry and other literary careers. Clare talks of how no one cared about him due to his background in life. “But the vast shipwreck of my life’s esteems;” (Clare, I Am) This metaphor compares his life to a “Shipwreck.” It portrays how desolate his life had become since a “shipwreck” is typically pictured as an abandoned and destroyed scene, often associated with the memories connected to the objects left on board. Structurally, I Am uses the rhyming scheme ABAB. The three stanzas each have their own individual themes and different rhyming sounds, but they tie together to convey the overall message. This is represented by all of them having the same rhyming pattern. The rhyming scheme conveys a feeling that the poet is steadily explaining something very negative, and as if he is accustomed enough to the story to ignore the associated emotions. This lack of emotions or passion communicates that the subject of the poem has given in to the surrounding oppression. An article on the topic of Clare, Robert Grave’s Peasant Poet, offers further insight into the topic of the poem. “Unless a poet could take his place naturally and gracefully at a gentleman’s table, cut or keep out of sight his plebeian connexions, and move to Town, he might not hope for advancement.” (101) Clare’s poverty made such prerequisites virtually unattainable. Success as a poet, was not easy to achieve without the opportunities and lessons that are provided to the wealthy. I Am can also be analysed through the lens of Clare’s lunacy. Clare went mad, and started believing that he was married to a woman that he loved, when they were both children. “After the failure of his fourth book in 1835, he turned his back on reality and lived more and more in the lost world of his boyhood,” (Graves, Peasant Poet, 103) This particular failure in his career seems to have been the catalyst for his lunacy. This once again relates to how his poverty affected his life. The quote “the vast shipwreck of my life’s esteems;” (Clare, I Am) becomes even more significant when viewed through the lens of his lunacy. It was not just his career, but his entire life that had become a “shipwreck”.

Many of the greatest poems achieve their beauty due to the raw descriptions from the authors’ own lives. Brontë and Clare lived quite different lives, but experienced many of the same struggles due to the oppression during their time period. Both having been poets in the 1800s, they were attempting to succeed in the same world. In analysing the poems, The Night is Darkening Round Me and I Am, it is clear that they portray similar themes of being disadvantaged due to your circumstances or identity. Despite the overlap, Brontë’s poem is more hopeful and portrays a will to fight. “The giant trees are bending, Their bare boughs weighed with snow;” (Brontë, The Night is Darkening Round Me) Using nature, the poem represents the opposition Brontë felt, in her career. The poem portrays how one’s will bends and is weighed down by others’ influence. The weight of the snow represents the pressure and difficulties that weighed down on Brontë. “Untroubling and untroubled where I lie, The grass below—above the vaulted sky.” (Clare, I Am) This quotation from Clare also uses nature. However, it uses nature in quite a different way. The natural scene described, in this case, is meant to be calm and peaceful. This does not represent something that Clare felt, but something he wished he could experience. This quotation follows his mention of wanting to go to God. Far from the positive mood it suggests, it is actually saying that he wanted to die. Unlike Brontë, he has given up. Both poets included natural imagery in their poems. This was a trend that was very commonly used during the Romantic Era, since artists were trying to reconnect with nature following the industrial revolution. The use of nature in both poems further emphasises the fact that the two poets were living and struggling in the same world. Brontë uses the language feature of repetition to portray an unshakeable stubbornness. At the end of all three stanzas, the words “cannot go,” repeat. (Brontë, The Night is Darkening Round Me). This was one of her ways of communicating that no matter how much she is deterred from her dreams, she will keep chasing them. There is also an end stopped line at the end of every stanza. This structure feels very final, as if insisting, in another way, that she will not give up. Clare also uses language features to portray emotion. “And yet I am, and live—like vapours tossed” (Clare, I Am) This is a simile, comparing himself to vapours: something that disappears into the air. The idea of living seems like persevering too, but living as “vapours”, that are not seen, is much bleaker. Additionally, in that time period, the word “vapours” was also used to describe ailments, including mental illness. The use of a word with such a double meaning would have been intentional, portraying both his insignificance and his lunacy. Using structure, he communicates the different tones and topics of the three stanzas. The second two stanzas end with an end stopped line, but the first does not. This is appropriate since the first stanza describes a background that leads to the hopelessness in the following stanza. The first stanza is not as final, and it leads directly into the second, mid point. The second and third on the other hand, are very separate from each other, and describe more established feelings in Clare’s life. In the context of the poets’ lives, the two poems are also connected through the theme of escapism. Clare goes as far as wishing to escape life by reaching heaven and getting to “abide with my Creator, God,” (Clare, I Am) This is the major theme of the final stanza in I Am. Whether the indulged fantasy world of Brontë or the insane delusions of Clare, both poets escaped the realities of life.

In conclusion, Brontë and Clare both used their poems, The Night is Darkening Round Me & I Am respectively, to communicate their personal barriers in society due to their identity. Brontë also used her writing to portray the strength that she holds on to despite her disadvantages. Using metaphors throughout, Brontë describes the feeling of being held down or harmed by outside forces, representing the effects of the sexism in the Romantic Era. However, she repeatedly emphasises her refusal to give up. Clare uses a variety of methods to portray internal struggles and the judgement from those around him. Using many techniques, including natural imagery, the two poems describe similar oppression due to one’s identity in society. However, Brontë described a response to this oppression that is much more positive: a refusal to give up. It is not only circumstances, but one’s outlook on life can bring them happiness.

Works Cited

Brontë, Emily. “The night is darkening round me by Emily Brontë.” Poetry Foundation,

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/43711/the-night-is-darkening-round-me.

Accessed 11 April 2022.

Clare, John. “I Am! by John Clare.” Poetry Foundation,

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/43948/i-am. Accessed 11 April 2022.

Graves, Robert. “Peasant Poet.” The Hudson Review, vol. 8, no. 1, 1955, pp. 99–105,

https://doi.org/10.2307/3847851. Accessed 5 Apr. 2022.

Hirsch, Edward. “Three Initiations: A COLUMN.” The American Poetry Review, vol. 27, no. 5,

1998, pp. 45–55, http://www.jstor.org/stable/27782809. Accessed 5 Apr. 2022.