Charlotte Brontë, Brandon Williams

Life Is Not A Dream

Life Is Not a Dream was commissioned for the This Is Me choral festival presented by National Concerts, an event that fosters a safe, uplifting, and affirming space for LGBTQIA+ singers and allies to come together in song. In her poem "Life," Charlotte Brontë (1816-1855) challenges the prevailing 19th-century belief that existence is marked solely by despair and suffering. Similarly, LGBTQIA+ individuals have long been defined by narratives of hardship, but like many within the community, this poem pushes back against that narrow portrayal. Instead, "Life" affirms that joy and sorrow can coexist, and that resilience is not just possible, but powerful. Brontë's words celebrate the quiet strength of enduring in a world that often seeks to marginalize LBGTQIA+ lives, offering a vision of life that embraces hope, beauty, and the defiant act of being visible.