Emily Brontë wrote "Spellbound" in November 1837, but (like much of her verse) it wasn't published until many years later. In this brief, mysterious poem, a speaker gazes out over a bleak, icy, forbidding landscape. They can see only "wastes beyond wastes" around them, and a storm is coming fast—but, trapped by a "tyrant spell," the speaker can't move from this dangerous spot. Through its vision of paralysis in a dreadful wilderness, the poem conjures a mood of utter despair. Titled "Spellbound" by an editor (Brontë only dated it), the poem was printed in a 1902 volume, Poems, which appeared more than 50 years after its author's death.
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The Full Text of “Spellbound”
1The night is darkening round me,
2The wild winds coldly blow;
3But a tyrant spell has bound me
4And I cannot, cannot go.
5The giant trees are bending
6Their bare boughs weighed with snow,
7And the storm is fast descending,
8And yet I cannot go.
9Clouds beyond clouds above me,
10Wastes beyond wastes below;
11But nothing drear can move me;
12I will not, cannot go.
The Full Text of “Spellbound”
1The night is darkening round me,
2The wild winds coldly blow;
3But a tyrant spell has bound me
4And I cannot, cannot go.
5The giant trees are bending
6Their bare boughs weighed with snow,
7And the storm is fast descending,
8And yet I cannot go.
9Clouds beyond clouds above me,
10Wastes beyond wastes below;
11But nothing drear can move me;
12I will not, cannot go.
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“Spellbound” Summary
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“Spellbound” Themes
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Despair and Powerlessness
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Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “Spellbound”
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Lines 1-4
The night is darkening round me,
The wild winds coldly blow;
But a tyrant spell has bound me
And I cannot, cannot go. -
Lines 5-8
The giant trees are bending
Their bare boughs weighed with snow,
And the storm is fast descending,
And yet I cannot go. -
Lines 9-12
Clouds beyond clouds above me,
Wastes beyond wastes below;
But nothing drear can move me;
I will not, cannot go.
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“Spellbound” Symbols
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The Landscape
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“Spellbound” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language
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Repetition
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Imagery
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Personification
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Caesura
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Alliteration
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“Spellbound” Vocabulary
Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.
- Tyrant
- Bound
- Boughs
- Wastes
- Drear
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Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “Spellbound”
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Form
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Meter
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Rhyme Scheme
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“Spellbound” Speaker
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“Spellbound” Setting
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Literary and Historical Context of “Spellbound”
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More “Spellbound” Resources
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External Resources
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The Poem Aloud — Listen to a reading of the poem.
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A Brief Biography — Visit the British Library's website to learn more about Emily Brontë's life and work.
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The Poetry of Gondal — See images of some of Emily Brontë's manuscripts, poems copied out in her tiny, meticulous handwriting. These poems (like "Spellbound") are connected to or set in the Brontë children's made-up land, Gondal.
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A Portrait of Brontë — See a portrait of Emily Brontë by her ne'er-do-well brother Branwell.
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Brontë's Influence — Read an article celebrating Emily Brontë's literary legacy—particularly the afterlife of her great novel Wuthering Heights.
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The Poem Set to Music — Listen to a musical interpretation of the poem.
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LitCharts on Other Poems by Emily Brontë
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