Anne Bradstreet Essay

The poetry that Anne Bradstreet wrote addresses important themes of Puritan life. For example, the poem “Before the Birth of One of her Children” Bradstreet expresses the theme of motherhood. The

Anne Bradstreet was not the ideal Puritan writer. She wrote about her fear of not being

Anne Bradstreet was awakened by a monstrous clap of thunder and people screaming “fire.” She isn’t immediately found thinking about her items, but more caught on how she should get out of her house. When finally aware of everything that has taken place she is awestruck. She cannot believe that all of her once precious belongings are now ashes among the ground. Bradstreet’s poem doesn’t directly explain how she feels about her possessions before her house was engorged in flames. It can be understood however by how she is so distraught after the fire. Still looking at the ashes, Bradstreet is found picturing her trunk, chest, store, and other possessions in the ashes. She even has “sorrowing eyes” at one point when looking at the ashes. Her crying and picturing her possessions is an excellent detail to describe how much she cared about them. She continues to explain the sheer magnitude of the fire by saying there no roof for a guest, and not even a table to eat at for herself. Anne Bradstreet lists off more things she will no longer be able to do in her house. Things she listed include; tales being told, candles being lit, and her bridegroom’s voice being heard. She ends her mourning by giving her last words to the house saying it will stay in silence forever. At this point in the story, Bradstreet starts to remember and realize how much she treasures her possessions. Bradstreet felt like a fool for paying so much attention and focus on earthly things. She continues with saying how wealth on earth should not have been her main focus because wealth on earth should mean nothing. Bradstreet later exclaims “The arm of flesh didst make thy trust,” meaning she doesn’t understand how her body could let her get caught up in all of these foolish things. She then turns her thoughts and mind up to God. She is asking God to forgive her for all of the wrongs she has committed by making objects important. She also requests upon God to carry away her “dunghill” of a house in the wind. Her main reasoning

In her poem, “In Reference to Her Children", Bradstreet explicitly presents the emotions and feelings of a Puritan mother towards her children. She writes of the great pains she took in raising her children: "I nursed them up with pain and care/Nor cost, nor labour did I spare/Till at the last they felt their wing/ Mounted the Trees and learned to sing//" (3-6). She continues to express her deep devotion to her children later on in the poem where she writes, "Great was my pain when I you bred/ Great was my care when I you fed/ Long did I keep you soft and warm/ And with my wings kept off all harm/" (55-58). Her expression of her deep devotion and immense love and care for her children demonstrates that family was a central part of her Puritan life and because of this, her pain upon their departure was so great. In her poem, “The Prologue” Bradstreet writes, "To sing of Wars, of Captains, and of Kings/ Of Cities founded, Common-wealths begun/ For my mean Pen are too superior things/ Or how they all, or each their dates have run/ Let Poets and Historians set these forth// My obscure lines shall not so dim their worth// (1-6). In this text, Bradstreet acknowledges that she does not discuss matters such as wars, kings, and cities in her writings that skilled writers have, her writings focus on more personal matters. She describes her works as

This poem is interpreted as a farewell letter to Bradstreet’s husband. She decides to write the poem since she considers she lies on her death bed while giving birth. In the 16th Century death during childbirth was common, she is afraid of the chances death has with her. She expresses feelings of sorrow and sadness as the poem progresses. Written as an iambic pentameter poem with rhyming couplets. The author combines ideas of death, love and her dismiss from this world. She starts the poem by introducing death “Fading world hath end” (1), “adversity doth still our joys attend” (2), she describes death inevitability and how all thing come to an end. How happiness isn’t eternal. She comes to the conclusion that death is inescapable. Death is coming for the speaker “How soon, my Dear, death may my steps

Anne Bradstreet was a very well known for her amazing poems she had wrote in the past. Anne was also well known because she knew that writing in her time was considered an unacceptable activity for women. She wrote in the little spare time she had, while the children sleep, or in moments between household chores.

Although Anne Bradstreet is one of the “best known… North American poets” and she was also the first to publish a book of poetry in the British Colonies, she did not get the credit she deserved while living (Bradstreet 437). The puritans believe that women were inferior to men because of Eve’s guilt. Bradstreet expresses this idea in one of her poems. In The Prologue, she states that she is in disagreement with each person who says that she “hand a needle better fits” than with a pen. In the same poem, she discussed how she would never truly receive credit for her poems. Also in the same poem states that if she does prove herself as being a poet, they will say that she stole it or it was luck (Bradstreet 440). Bradstreet brother-in-law had

Anne Bradstreet’s “Verses Upon the Burning of Our House” is an enjoyable read that causes the reader to experience various emotions while reading the poem, and connects the reader to the speaker through the expression of these emotions. I enjoyed this poem because it particularly evoked feelings of sympathy for the speaker. Bradstreet’s internal struggle is just one of many that is faced through the lives of all, and by directly relaying a significant event that happened in her life, she establishes a strong and almost personal connection with the reader. She expresses the hardships she faces in a way that is relatable while also telling a story of how her faith came through to her in a time of need. In addition to being a narrative story,

Based on a true experience, Anne Bradstreet’s “Verses Upon the Burning of Our House” recounts her journey through self-realization and empowerment by following the guidance of God and adhering to her faith. Bradstreet, a devout Puritan (Woodlief), deeply reflects her religion throughout this poem, with the central belief that God has the right to take away her belongings, for “It was his own, it was not mine” (17). However, she frequently digresses from this belief, mourning the loss of her material items and expressing genuine humanity. Such a strict devotion to her faith suggests that Bradstreet mainly wrote this poem to express her grievance while simultaneously restoring confidence in herself of God’s power as a coping method for the loss.

The first thing Bradstreet learns from the fire happens when she decides to thank God in while her house burning she then tells us that all the stuff on fire she did not really own becouse they qwere all God’s.so, she couldn’t cry over the things gone. becouse anyway he had all the right to take it away. she usually questioned the concept of a judgmental god, Bradstreet never doubted the actual existence of a higher being. Her acknowledgement of God through out this poem shows her respect and devotion to her Puritan beliefs as well as her love for the spiritual world.

In her poem, “Verses Upon the Burning of our House,” Anne Bradstreet aids Puritans in recalling their sole purpose: to detach themselves from their earthly belongings and to focus on their faith. Bradstreet juxtaposes “silent night” and “shriek” to convey the emotion of fear. The fear of losing everything she loves, everything she has grown to love and the fear of not being able to get it all back. Her sorrowful tone highlights the beginning stage of her testimony in which she shows confliction towards God’s message to her. This juxtaposition creates an emotion that leads the author to the realization that God has left her with only two things, her family and the promise of eternity. Rather than damning His name for destroying her belongings,

The main focus for the poem was a fire that had occurred. As I read the poem I gathered that a house fire had waked her, this fire gave Anne much sorrow as she mentioned that repeatedly. The theme of this poem was experience, hate, and reality. The interpretation I collected as I analyzed was a house fire that had occurred gave Anne great sorrow as she mentioned “And to my God my heart did cry”, all of her belonging were destroyed. She cried out and prayed to “ God” I felt when she used characterization when she mentioned God because she never said his name she only spoke of God once then referred to him as his or he. As she prayed It seemed as if God changed the outcome she had expected and she was able to build a new home as she said “Thou hast a house on high erect Frameed by that mighty Architect With glory richly furnished” She ended the poem with what I felt was relief and

Anne Bradstreet was America's first published poet who lived in the 1600’s. She was a well-educated poet for her age and time, a loving wife, and caring mother. She used her poetry to show recognition of women's rights, the puritan lifestyle and beliefs, also to show her husband and eight children how much she loved them. Most of Anne Bradstreet’s poetry is based off true experiences in her life and what she believed in spiritually. In that day and time, she was heavily criticized for being a woman and writing. Bradstreet wrote a lot on puritanism, being a mother and wife, as well as the ways of life. Anne Bradstreet was and still is one of the most important American poets of all time.

Anne Bradstreet’s poetry is remarkable and was conversational during its time. Her poems are full of emotion and intensity due to her strong religious beliefs, as a Puritan. Bradstreet was loyal to her religion and followed the society’s standards but she was not the typical women because she was a female poet. Her father educated through reading and encouraged her to write. He also encouraged her to read her poems to him.

First American female poet, Anne Bradstreet is a puritan woman, who wrote about her life and struggles between religion and society. Her poems reflect the feeling of being a responsible woman writer, who writes poems while rearing her eight children and other household works. She was looked down on for writing for some reason because only male were considered as a great writer at that time. Many poems reflect her struggle to accept the adversity of the Puritan colony, contrasting earthly losses with the eternal rewards of the good. In one of her poems, “Upon the Burning of Our House”, she tries to imply that materials are worthless and the only thing that is worthy is going to heaven in the afterlife.