Lyric Poem · Nature
How still, how happy!
by Emily Brontë
1How still, how happy! Those are words
2That once would scarce agree together;
3I loved the plashing of the surge -
4The changing heaven the breezy weather,
5More than smooth seas and cloudless skies
6And solemn, soothing, softened airs
7That in the forest woke no sighs
8And from the green spray shook no tears.
9How still, how happy! now I feel
10Where silence dwells is sweeter far
11Than laughing mirth's most joyous swell
12However pure its raptures are.
13Come, sit down on this sunny stone:
14'Tis wintry light o'er flowerless moors -
15But sit - for we are all alone
16And clear expand heaven's breathless shores.
17I could think in the withered grass
18Spring's budding wreaths we might discern;
19The violet's eye might shyly flash
20And young leaves shoot among the fern.
21It is but thought - full many a night
22The snow shall clothe those hills afar
23And storms shall add a drearier blight
24And winds shall wage a wilder war,
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“How still, how happy!” by Emily Brontë — quilloak.com/poems/how-still-how-happy
Quick facts
- Poem
- How still, how happy!
- Poet
- Emily Brontë
- Length
- 32 lines
- Form
- Lyric Poem
- Themes
- Nature, Winter, Love
Craft notes
How this poem works
Measured from the text on this page, not copied from a summary. Counts are approximate: syllables and rhymes come from the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary, which models General American English, so dialect, older pronunciation, and performance can all change what you hear.
- Shape
- 32 lines · 8 quatrains
- Line length
- Mostly 8-syllable lines (tetrameter length).
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Text, source & rights
A traceable edition
Full-text display is based on the committed source record and a United States term-expiry review.
- Author record
- Emily Brontë1818–1848
- Source record
- PoetryDBHow still, how happy! by emily-bronte, PoetryDB transcription
- Display decision
- Full text · United States · reviewed 2026-07-18
- Publication record
- Not recorded in the imported source
- Text fingerprint
- SHA-256 a4a5386acc8810b4…
- Editorial handling
- Whitespace and stanza breaks normalized for web display; no material wording change recorded.