“LOVE”, a simple word with four letters, sounds very simple but has a vast and deep meaning. From the very ancient time till today there have always been a topic called “Love” in every work of literature. Even in the ancient Biblical times, we see “Love” carried a deeper meaning. Several chapters and verses from the Holy Book are the evidence that “Love” existed during that period too, be it God’s love to all His people, or a man’s love to his wife, or vice-versa. The book of Genesis not only talks about the history and origin of the world, but also talks about several things on “Love”. In 1 Corinthians 13, we read, “Love” is patient and kind, which is not boastful and has no arrogance at all. It is not rude and self-seeking. This extract from the Bible is really meaningful and powerful in the sense that how well it describes the feeling of deep affection; also, it mentions “Love is greatest”. The purpose of my essay is to analyze Anne Bradstreet as a loving, caring and Godly wife using the theme of the verse "If ever two were one, then surely we…." from her poem "To My Dear and Loving Husband".
One of Anne Bradstreet’s great works involves the poem "To my Dear and Loving Husband”. From this poem, we know that she is very much in love with her husband and children. Anne Bradstreet, America's first published poet was born in Northampton, England in 1612. She was the daughter of Thomas Dudley, a steward of the Earl of Lincoln. Her family was in a better position than most of the puritans of those times. Because of this, she grew up in cultured circumstances. She was very well-educated in comparison to other women of her times. She was being tutored in history, literature and several other languages. She also had access to various ...
... middle of paper ...
...gotten.”
Works Cited
Requa, Kenneth A. “ANNE BRADSTREET'S POETIC VOICES”. Early American Literature Vol. 9, No. 2 (1999), pp. 2-6. University Of North Carolina Press.
Poetry Foundation. Queens College.
(24 September, 2009) http://www.poetryfoundation.org/archive/poet.html?id=765#further
Wilson, Douglas. Beyond Stateliest Marble: The Passionate Femininity of Anne Bradstreet (Leaders in Action Series) (May, 2001)
McMichael, George, et al. Anthology of American Literature. New Jersey, 2007.
New International Version, 1 Corinthians 13.
Hammond, Jeffrey A. "Make Use of What I Leave in Love": Anne Bradstreet's Didactic Self. Religion & Literature, Vol. 17, No. 3 (1985), pp. 11-26 The University of Notre Dame
Laughlin, Rosemary M. “Anne Bradstreet: Poet in Search of Form”. American Literature, Vol. 42, No. 1 (1970), pp. 1-17. Duke University Press
Anne Bradstreet’s inability to perfect her work before it was released frustrated her to the point where she internalizes the book’s imperfections as a reflection of herself. Bradstreet uses an extended metaphor of a mother and a child to compare the relationship between herself as the author and her book. Rather than investing her spirit in God, she repeatedly focuses on trying to improve the quality of her writing with no success, “I washed thy face, but more defects I saw” (Bradstreet 13). Like a mother protecting her child, Bradstreet’s attempts to prevent critics from negatively analyzing her work of art (20). Her continuous obsession about people’s opinions consumed in the Earthly world and essentially distracted her from developing a spiritual relationship with God. Bradstreet was enveloped by her dissatisfaction with her to the point of ridiculing herself, “Thou ill-formed offspring of my feeble mind” (1). It was obvious that her mind and spiritual
Wetherell, W.D. "The Bass, the River, and Sheila Mant." Responding to Literature: Stories, Poems, Plays, and Essays. Fourth Edition. Ed. Judith A. Stanford. Boston: McGrawHill, 2003. 191-196.
Anne Bradstreet?s poem, ?To my Dear and Loving Husband? presents a beautiful love theme. "Of ever two were one, then surely we" (1). This quotation is important because Bradstreet is pointing out that she does not feel as though she is one individual person. And one of the first questions that come to my mind is if Bradstreet was trying to make a point for all wives to be that way or she felt insecure about her own self. The poem itself portrays a loving wife, but the fact is she sounds like she is afraid to be alone, that her husband is the one who makes her complete, in another words, it makes her be a full person.
She writes a letter to husband, almost instructing him on what to do after her death. Unlike other demure housewives of her time, she acknowledges the risk birthing her child brings by saying, “And when thy loss shall be repaid with gains / Look to my little babes, my dear remains” (107). Bradstreet also approaches a taboo subject by acknowledging that her husband might remarry. Bradstreet does not tread lightly on this subject either by writing, “And if thou love thyself, or loved’st me, / These o protect from step Dames injury” (107). In this poem, Bradstreet faces the possibility of not only the loss of her life but the loss of her husband’s love. Bradstreet challenges Puritan beliefs by showing that she will still be concerned with her earthly life after her
The components of marriage, family and loss has played a big role in Anne Bradstreet’s writing of “Before the birth of One of Her Children”, “In Memory of Dear Grandchild Elizabeth Bradstreet”, and Edward Taylor’s “Upon Wedlock and the Death of Children.” In, these writings both authors Puritan culture and their faith plays a big role. In these poems one author starts questioning their God and the other to take honor in their God throughout their grieving process, while both showing different aspects of their everlasting union with their spouse, and the love for their children.
Her children greatly shaped her life; she gave birth to eight children and loved them deeply. In, "In Reference to My Children", she writes about neutering her children: “great was my pain when I you bread, great was my care when you I feed" (Bradstreet 55). She recorded her struggles about being a mother in troubling times. In her poem, "Before the Birth of One of Her Children" she records the last moments before giving birth: "and when thy loss shall be with gains, look to my little babes, my dear remains."(Bradstreet 21), she writes this thinking it would be her last thinking that childbirth would kill her, proving that her love for her children is greater than any other love she has, and that she would die for them. Her husband also is a theme in her poems, she writes about her bond with him and that "if ever two were one, then surely we" (Bradstreet 1) in "To My Dear Loving Husband". Bradstreet Is constantly writing about her husband and her love for him when he is far telling the reader that she is close with her husband and that she loves him deeply. Not only does her poems reflect her husband but also the roll that women had in the 1600's. In "A Love Letter to Her Husband" she tells him to "post with double speed, mark what I say, by all our loves contour him not to stray" (Bradstreet 39). One of her most prominent themes would be her devotion to her religion and God. She
Anne Bradstreet is seen as a true poetic writer for the seventeenth century. She exhibits a strong Puritan voice and is one of the first notable poets to write English verse in the American colonies. Bradstreet’s work symbolizes both her Puritan and feminine ideals and appeals to a wide audience of readers. American Puritan culture was basically unstable, with various inchoate formations of social, political, and religious powers competing publicly. Her thoughts are usually on the reality surrounding her or images from the Bible. Bradstreet’s writing is that of her personal and Puritan life. Anne Bradstreet’s individualism lies in her choice of material rather than in her style.
Anne Bradstreet starts off her letter with a short poem that presents insight as to what to expect in “To My Dear Children” when she says “here you may find/ what was in your living mother’s mind” (Bradstreet 161). This is the first sign she gives that her letter contains not just a mere retelling of adolescent events, but an introspection of her own life. She writes this at a very turbulent point in history for a devout Puritan. She lived during the migration of Puritans to America to escape the persecution of the Catholic Church and also through the fragmentation of the Puritans into different sects when people began to question the Puritan faith.
Charters, Ann & Samuel. Literature and its Writers. 6th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2013. 137-147. Print.
Bradstreet, Anne. "To My Dear Children." The Norton Anthology of American Literature. Ed. Nina Baym. New York: Norton & Company, 1999. 144-147.
God; whereas Taylor wrote solely on his love for God. Bradstreet was a pioneer in the idea of writing about loving your husband and self. This was one of her greatest achievements and also greatest gifts to the world, even though it was not appropriate to write about such subjects she did anyway. The combination of Bradstreet and Taylors poetry about love prove to the world that love can exist in any part of life and should be appreciated and
Anne Bradstreet was America's first published poet, who lived in the 1600’s. She was a well-educated poet of 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 was 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. (poetryfoundation) f
Bradstreet, Anne. “The Prologue”, “The Author to Her Book”, “Before The Birth Of One Of
When Bradstreet’s next grandchild, Anne, passed away, she was unable to resist it. She lost her control and become disappointed. She wrote a poem under “In Memory of My dear Grandchild Anne Bradstreet, Who Deceased June 20, 1669.”5 The poem starts with the speaker
According to BellaOnline, Bradstreet was, “married to the governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony and had eight children.” Even though her marriage might have become filled with routines and lost a little passion, the poet never lost the love for her husband. She states that the power of her “.love is such that rivers cannot quench”(Bradstreet, 7). Bradstreet expresses her emotions to be so strong that not even a roaring river can possibly satisfy them. She prizes her husband’s “.love more than whole mines of gold/ Or all the riches that the East doth hold,” (Bradstreet, 5-6) meaning she values his affection more than any amount of money she could obtain.