Analysis Of Verse The Burning Our House By Anne Brastreet

The Colonial Period as history is possibly the most important time in American
history. It is where we found our start, and if it had not been for those who were prominent and
alive during that time, we would not have the country we do today. The Colonial Period was a
time of discovery, of new and exciting things that had never even been heard about before. The
settlers in the New World were utterly in awe of the world they had stumbled upon that, while
not being new, was certainly new to them. But, this excitement quickly wore off, and the reality
of living under a government seemingly an entire world away swiftly sets it. American Literature
during the Colonial Period, it is not surprising, very clearly represents these sentiments. The
Colonial

Period was a time of reinvention of self, of country, and of religion.
In the first colonies in what would later be known as America. among the first settlers
were the Puritans. The Puritans believed that they were God’s servants, put on the earth to do his
work and his work alone.

They led simple lives, concluding that frivolous things would distract
them from God, and their work to be done. This sentiment is largely conveyed in Anne
Bradstreet’s poem “Verses upon the Burning of Our House” written on July 10th, 1666.
Bradstreet describes a fire starting in her house while she slept, her house that was filled with
very important and valuable things that she had collected over the years. In verse five, Bradstreet
states “The fearful sound of ‘fire’ and ‘fire’, Let no man know is my Desire”. One can only
assume that Bradstreet means she is secretly delighted in the face of this fire, about to consume
her entire house. This message is solidified in verses 12­17, reading “Then, coming out, behold a
space, The flame consume my dwelling place. And when I could no longer look, I blest His
name that gave and took, That laid my goods now in the dust. Yea, so it was, and so ‘twas just.
It was his own, it was not mine,”. The text indicates that Bradstreet was not exactly saddened by
the event of the fire, merely thanking God for taking away what he had given her. She believed
that her possessions were merely material, and that they were God’s in the end, as he chose

to
take them away from her.
On the other side of Puritanism, there lies Rationalism. This was the philosophy of
believing that through reason, one could work out any problem, and perfect any system, if they
were to think long and hard upon the problem. Rationalists weren’t anti­Religion, but they
believed that God had created the Earth and the people upon it so they would have the
opportunity to improve themselves through this process. One very prominent American figure
during the Colonial Period was Benjamin Franklin, In his autobiography, Franklin describes a
process in which he attempts to rid himself of all of his faults, one by one. He makes a list of
virtues that he wishes to uphold, and starts with the first one, and follows that virtue by marking
little dots next to it every time he fails it. He soon improves upon that virtue until no dots are to
be seen at all. Then he moves on to the next one, assuming that in this way he will reach
perfection. This experiment is a perfect example of Rationalist thought, as the solution to failing
his virtues does seem quite clear: don’t fail them.
Finally, the Colonial Period marks a time of rebellion, as the colonists in America grows
increasingly weary of living under British rule, and want their independence. Not everyone was
on the same side as the radicals, as is often the case. In Patrick Henry’s March 20th, 1775 speech
“Give Me Liberty or Give me Death!”, Henry is urging the Virginia Convention’s leaders to
organize a militia to defend themselves against the crown, stating that “Sir, we have done
everything that could be done, to avert the storm which is now coming on.

We have petitioned;
we have remonstrated; we have supplicated; we have prostrated ourselves before the throne, and
have implored its interposition to arrest the tyrannical hands of the ministry and Parliament.”.
Henry goes on to say that their only option left not exhausted is to fight, crying “we must fight!
An appeal to arms and to the God of Hosts is all that is left us!”. Henry’s impassioned cries for
freedom and rebellion reflect the sentiments of many Colonial writers, claiming that there were
no options left to escape the rule of Great Britain, and that they must earn their freedom.
From Anne Bradstreet’s poem describing the burning of her house, and her delight in this
event, to Benjamin Franklin’s attempted reinvention of self, all the way to Patrick Henry’s
impassioned cries for freedom, these three texts do a very superb job of attempting to sum up the
Colonial Period in American Literature. Newly settled people in America were given an
incredible opportunity, but one that was not free from hardship and oppression. The people of
Colonial times, even those that were not prominent figures, all had one common goal: to

make
the most of the opportunity given to them. And, through these pieces of literature we can see that
they have done just that.