Poetry in Jane Eyre?

While reading novels, I occasionally discover passages that fit a clear rhyme/rhythm scheme. This makes me wonder whether they were meant to be [hidden] poetry, or whether the author had a subconscious poetic muse.

One passage in Jane Eyre caught my eye this way. Starting with the third-from-last paragraph of Chapter 2, a brief conversation between young Jane and Mrs. Reed runs as follows (with my line breaks):

 

"Oh aunt, have pity! Forgive me!

I cannot endure it — let me be

punished some other way! I shall be killed if —"

"Silence! This violence is all most repulsive:"

 

"Coincidence," I hear you thinking, and I initially thought the same. The "me/be" rhyme is happenstance; the "be killed if/repulsive" semi-rhyme could easily be coincidental.

But what of the "Silence/violence" rhyme nestled in the final line, within a perfectly consistent rhythm pattern? Having so many rhymes arrayed so poetically smacks of intentionality.

Read it aloud, stressing the syllables I've underlined below, and you too may wonder about Bronte's intentions.

 

Oh aunt [pause] have pity! Forgive me!

I cannot endure it let me be

punished some other way! I shall be killed if —

Silence, this vi'lence is all most repulsive:

 

The first two lines have a "da DUM da" pattern, which is known less colloquially as "amphibrachic meter." The last two lines go "DUM da da" — "dactylic meter." (I'm no poet; I learned those terms while researching this passage.)

Admittedly, in the second line, "let" would more naturally be stressed than "me." Does that cast serious doubt on my hidden-poetry theory?

To conclude: a poetic stanza appears to be concealed within Jane Eyre. Just my imagination? Or a purposely hidden treat? What do you think?

P.S. Here's something else I noticed that is probably a coincidence:

  • Charlotte Bronte was born on April 21st, which is the 21st day of the 4th month.
  • There are 21 letters in the first 4 words of Jane Eyre ("There was no possibility"). Hmmm ...