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Catherine Earnshaw, may you not rest as long as I am living! You said I killed you - haunt me, then! The murdered do haunt their murderers. I believe - I know that ghosts have wandered on earth. Be with me always - take any form - drive me mad! only do not leave me in this abyss, where I cannot find you! Oh, God! it is unutterable! I cannot live without my life! I cannot live without my soul!

Emily Bronte#27

DeathLossSadnessLonelinessSufferingDesperation

About this quote

What does it mean?
The speaker begs a departed lover to haunt them rather than leave them alone in despair.
In plain terms
Haunt me if you loved me; do not leave me alone.
What can you take from it?
Grief demands presence, even painful presence.

Where it applies

  • Facing loss
  • Feeling abandoned
  • Mourning deeply

Putting it to work

  • Express grief openly
  • Seek closure
  • Acknowledge pain

Questions to consider

  • Is it better to hurt or to be alone?
  • How do you handle grief?

Another view

It glorifies suffering as necessary for connection.

More from Emily Bronte

  1. You talk of her mind being unsettled - How the devil could it be otherwise, in her frightful isolation? And that insipid, paltry creature attending her from du…

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  2. My walk home was lengthened by a diversion in the direction of the kirk. When beneath its walls, I perceived decay had made progress, even in seven months - ma…

    Permalink to quote #28
  3. I was a fool to fancy for a moment that she valued Edgar Linton's attachment more than mine - If he loved with all the powers of his puny being, he couldn't lo…

    Permalink to quote #25

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