Named source · 1848

The Narrow Way Quotes by Anne Brontë: Context & Meanings

1 quotation linked to The Narrow Way by or associated with Anne Brontë, with source notes, explanations and related topics.

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But he that dares not grasp the thorn Should never crave the rose.

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“But he that dares not grasp the thorn Should never crave the rose.”

Anne Brontë

Meaning & context

Within Brontë’s devotional poem, the rose-and-thorn image presents spiritual aspiration as inseparable from effort, difficulty and self-discipline.

Source details

“The Narrow Way,” dated April 27, 1848 and represented by Wikisource’s Complete Poems text. The poem explicitly describes a Christian path of labour, endurance, pardon and devotion to God; the metaphor is religious poetry rather than generic success doctrine.

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