Caring for Children

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“No cost nor labour did I spare” is a phrase every mother lives by. It shows that a mother loves her children so much that she will give anything up just so her children can reach success in life. The way this is written suggests that there was no thought involved in making this decision, the mother did not even think about it for a second, she knew immediately that she would not spare any cost or labor for her child. Anne Bradstreet is the author who wrote this, suggesting that the most important thing in her entire life is her kid’s success in life. In the poem “In Reference to Her Children,” author Anne Bradstreet demonstrates her love for her children by raising her children with pain and care, watching concernedly her children grow up, and wanting to be with them in the afterlife.

Anne Bradstreet loves her children so much because she raised them all with pain and care. Bradstreet often talks about her children loving people, and people loving them, “And with her mate flew out of sight” (14) and out of her reach so she can not watch over them. Bradstreet’s strong Puritan heritage gives her unquestionable belief that God is watching over her children for her, and her children are watching for God. With this relationship between her and God, Anne Bradstreet accepts the departure of her children. In this poem Anne Bradstreet talks about success, “Coupled with mate loving and true” (23) this is Bradstreet’s idea of success for her children in this poem. Anne Bradstreet’s idea of success is so much more than just this line, in the fact that she wants her children to be educated, and live good productive Christian lives. All of these things are implied in the poem as simple as finding a mate and “flying” off.

A devoted mother, Anne Bradstreet is concerned with her children as she watches them grow up. “Or lest by Lime-twigs they be foil'd, or by some greedy hawks be spoil'd” Anne Bradstreet uses to describe her fear for her children. Not wanting to see her children suffer, Anne Bradstreet turns to God to help her children. Bradstreet imagines her bird’s being stuck on a branch and a hawk eating them, a grim image of all of her sacrifice being lost in a single moment. “No cost nor labour did I spare” describes how much Anne loves her children.

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