My soul is awakened, my spirit is soaring
And carried aloft on the Wings of the breeze;
Around me the wild wind is roaring,
Arousing to rapture the earth and the sea.

The long withered grass in the sunshine is glancing
The bare trees are tossing their branches on high;
The dead leaves, beneath them. are merrily dancing,
The white clouds are scudding“ across the blue sky.

I wish I could see how the ocean is lashing
The foam of its billows to whirlwinds of spray;
I wish I could see how its proud waves are dashing,
And hear the wild roar of their thunder today!

Anne Bronte (1820-1849) was the youngest of the three Bronte sisters who were writers Anne was educated at home by her aunt till the age of fifteen, when she joined school. Her elder sisters were Charlotte, who wrote Jane Eyre, and Emily, who wrote Wuthering Heights. Anne's first published book was a collection of poems which contained poems by all three sisters. The collection, called Poems by Currer, Ellis and Acton Bell, was published in 1846.

aloft : high in the air

arousing to : creating an emotion

rapture : feeling of extreme pleasure

glancing : (here) shining or gleaming

scudding : moving quickly across the sky

lashing : hitting