Emily Brontë first published "No Coward Soul Is Mine" in 1846 as part of the collection Poems by Currer, Ellis and Acton Bell (Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell being pseudonyms for Charlotte, Emily, and Anne Brontë, respectively). The poem is a meditation on the power of faith: in it, the speaker describes their unshakeable belief in a divine power so all-encompassing that it includes the speaker too. In this way, the speaker feels fortified against any trials or tribulations that life—or death—may throw their way, because nothing can compare to the vastness of this eternal life source.
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The Full Text of “No Coward Soul is Mine”
1No coward soul is mine
2No trembler in the world's storm-troubled sphere
3I see Heaven's glories shine
4And Faith shines equal arming me from Fear
5O God within my breast
6Almighty ever-present Deity
7Life, that in me hast rest,
8As I Undying Life, have power in Thee
9Vain are the thousand creeds
10That move men's hearts, unutterably vain,
11Worthless as withered weeds
12Or idlest froth amid the boundless main
13To waken doubt in one
14Holding so fast by thy infinity,
15So surely anchored on
16The steadfast rock of Immortality.
17With wide-embracing love
18Thy spirit animates eternal years
19Pervades and broods above,
20Changes, sustains, dissolves, creates and rears
21Though earth and moon were gone
22And suns and universes ceased to be
23And Thou wert left alone
24Every Existence would exist in thee
25There is not room for Death
26Nor atom that his might could render void
27Since thou art Being and Breath
28And what thou art may never be destroyed.
The Full Text of “No Coward Soul is Mine”
1No coward soul is mine
2No trembler in the world's storm-troubled sphere
3I see Heaven's glories shine
4And Faith shines equal arming me from Fear
5O God within my breast
6Almighty ever-present Deity
7Life, that in me hast rest,
8As I Undying Life, have power in Thee
9Vain are the thousand creeds
10That move men's hearts, unutterably vain,
11Worthless as withered weeds
12Or idlest froth amid the boundless main
13To waken doubt in one
14Holding so fast by thy infinity,
15So surely anchored on
16The steadfast rock of Immortality.
17With wide-embracing love
18Thy spirit animates eternal years
19Pervades and broods above,
20Changes, sustains, dissolves, creates and rears
21Though earth and moon were gone
22And suns and universes ceased to be
23And Thou wert left alone
24Every Existence would exist in thee
25There is not room for Death
26Nor atom that his might could render void
27Since thou art Being and Breath
28And what thou art may never be destroyed.
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“No Coward Soul is Mine” Summary
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“No Coward Soul is Mine” Themes
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The Power of Faith
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Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “No Coward Soul is Mine”
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Lines 1-4
No coward soul is mine
No trembler in the world's storm-troubled sphere
I see Heaven's glories shine
And Faith shines equal arming me from Fear -
Lines 5-8
O God within my breast
Almighty ever-present Deity
Life, that in me hast rest,
As I Undying Life, have power in Thee -
Lines 9-12
Vain are the thousand creeds
That move men's hearts, unutterably vain,
Worthless as withered weeds
Or idlest froth amid the boundless main -
Lines 13-16
To waken doubt in one
Holding so fast by thy infinity,
So surely anchored on
The steadfast rock of Immortality. -
Lines 17-20
With wide-embracing love
Thy spirit animates eternal years
Pervades and broods above,
Changes, sustains, dissolves, creates and rears -
Lines 21-24
Though earth and moon were gone
And suns and universes ceased to be
And Thou wert left alone
Every Existence would exist in thee -
Lines 25-28
There is not room for Death
Nor atom that his might could render void
Since thou art Being and Breath
And what thou art may never be destroyed.
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“No Coward Soul is Mine” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language
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Anaphora
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Repetition
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Simile
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Metaphor
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Alliteration
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Consonance
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Assonance
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“No Coward Soul is Mine” 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.
- Deity
- Hast
- Thee
- Thee
- Vain
- Creeds
- Unutterably
- Idlest
- Froth
- Boundless main
- Thy
- Animates
- Pervades
- Broods
- Thou
- Wert
- Render
- Void
- Art
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Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “No Coward Soul is Mine”
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Form
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Meter
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Rhyme Scheme
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“No Coward Soul is Mine” Speaker
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“No Coward Soul is Mine” Setting
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Literary and Historical Context of “No Coward Soul is Mine”
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More “No Coward Soul is Mine” Resources
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External Resources
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Emily Brontë's Life and Work — Learn more about the poet via the Poetry Foundation.
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The Poem Out Loud — Listen to the poem read aloud and accompanied by music.
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Handwritten Poems — Browse the British Library's archives of Brontë's poetry notebook.
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Victorian Poetry — A look at the era in which Brontë wrote.
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"A fierce, elemental lyric" — Read a discussion of "No Coward Soul is Mine" written for The Guardian's Poem of the Week series, which deems the poet "a very un-Victorian Victorian."
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LitCharts on Other Poems by Emily Bronte
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