Anne Bradstreet And Edwards Compare And Contrast

Rough Draft

Anne Bradstreet and Jonathan Edwards were poets who lived in the late 17th century. Their poetry is very different because Edwards writes about fiery pits of hell, while Bradstreet writes about love and being grateful. In both of their lives, God is important; everything revolves around God and a Puritan question: Is this something God would do? The poems Upon the Burning of Our House and To My Dear and Loving Husband written by Anne Bradstreet show how you can sin, but God will forgive you for what you have done. While Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God by Jonathan Edwards show if you don’t convert to Christ, God will punish you forever. After analyzing these two authors I believe that they have the same religious views, however

their styles of writing are very different.
Edwards and Bradstreet, both being of the Puritan age, share many of the same religious views, but they have contrasting images of God.

Religion, without a doubt, during the Puritan age was everything; God was essential in the Puritan faith. Edwards, when he writes about God, is very upfront, intense, aggressive, and seems to be an unsatisfied person who believes that if you do not convert to Christ you are going to hell. In Edwards’ sermon, Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, he states “Therefore, let everyone that is out of Christ,/ now awake and fly from the wrath to come.” (129). In the paragraph of his sermon, Edwards’ states that you better be with Christ or an angry/mean god is coming for you, and will make your life terrible; if he decides not to kill you. In contrast to Edwards, who tries to scare those not with Christ into converting to Christ, Bradstreet is the exact opposite. She is encouraging, believes in a forgiving God, and that God is good to you when you die. In her poem, Upon the Burning of Our House, she states “My hope and treasure lies above.” (Line 54) In the line of this poem, Bradstreet states that even after her house burned down and she lost everything; she knows that all of her belongings will be in heaven for her because God is going to forgive her for her mistake. Even though Edwards and Bradstreet had their own images of God, both of them share the same religious views; God is everything in the Puritan lifestyle. Beyond having the same religious views, Edwards and Bradstreet have very contrasting styles of

writing.
Edwards and Bradstreet both write poems, however they have their own styles when they write their poems. Edwards writes with paragraphs, a sermon, loaded words, and he is very upfront with what he says. Edwards help show his true feelings in his style of writing by stating “Hell is gaping for them, the flames gather and flash about them and would fain lay hard on them, and swallow them up;” (126) Edwards does not hold back on what he wants to say; in this quote he says hell is waiting for them and is going to swallow them up if they do not convert to Christ. While Bradstreet writes with stanzas, lots of rhyming, and she helps make easy connections with what she writes. Bradstreet states, “I prize thy love more than whole mines of gold” (line 5) You can make easy connections with this because she is saying that she would rather have love than mines of gold. Money does not mean anything to her, it is all about love. Even though Bradstreet makes easy connections, Edwards uses lots of loaded words like wrath, induced, and wicked; which means they could have many meanings. Bradstreet uses simpler words so the reader can better comprehend the poem and connect with it. Although both Edwards and Bradstreet write poems, they have very contrasting types of poems, with completely different styles.
Edwards and Bradstreet, being of the Puritan age, both show how God is very important in their everyday lives, but they have contrasting views of God and contrasting writing styles.