The difficulty Bradstreet and Taylor have controlling and hiding the anger and doubt they have at both have at God and Puritans with the loss of children in their lives using an abundance of literary devices. Bradstreet’s diction used in her Elizabeth Bradstreet’s poem to describe what God has very negative meaning. One of the words she uses that shows her anger is terminate. This word not only holds a very negative but used with what God did to her grandchild. God terminated her grandchild. Not took her child but terminated this is very violent and negative. Bradstreet feels as this was personal move against her by God. God not only took this child from her, but completely destroyed the babe. Nothing was left to chance the baby was taken …show more content…
quickly and without hesitation by God. Terminate is not used lightly and it contains a lot of anger aimed at God. The word terminate is not the only word used by Bradstreet in this poem that shows damage God has done.
Bradstreet also uses the word eradicate. Bradstreet chooses to use this word after terminate to emphasize the complete destruction of the child. She does this to express her real feelings about God’s actions. She does not believe it was a casual death that God has inflicted by killing the child. This is why she uses such powerful words in her poem to make the reader acknowledge God’s actions. Bradstreet asks what would have been a very controversial rhetorical question during her time in her Simon Bradstreet poem. Her question “…yet is He good,” was the very bold question she asked. She hid this rhetorical question within in her writing but hiding didn’t make it any less important question for her to ask. She is asking if God is good or if he is bad. This is showing her doubt in him as this almighty perfect good God. This is significant because she trying to shake these Puritans out of stupor they have put themselves in. They have locked the image of a perfect God in their eyes and Bradstreet does not believe this how they should see him. They need to question God’s actions instead of this blind faith they have in everything he does to them. She wants them to question him so they aren’t so dependent on God for everything …show more content…
they do. She also does this because she questioning God’s own actions on Earth; refusing to have the blind faith everybody else in her society has in God. This is very showing of how independent Bradstreet was compared to her Puritan companions. Bradstreet’s clever manipulation of periods and commas using syntax in her last grandchild poem is used to show her anger at the Puritan society and God. Bradstreet’s use of sarcasm in her Simon Bradstreet poem allows the audience to hear the anger at God. In the line “Let’s say He’s merciful as well as just.” sounds like the perfect a puritan a part of it sounds off. The “Let’s say…” come off very sarcastic and fake sounding. Making the rest of the line read the same as it. This line is mocking the Puritans and their beliefs. Bradstreet does not agree with their beliefs so through she mentions them she does so in a very sarcastic tone. She does this so while she has to write the proper thing it can definitely be seen that she does not believe what she saying. Also by saying it sarcastic way she can truly let the anger be shown that she has at the people in her society as well as God. She letting the audience know she does not believe God is either merciful or just towards her. Instead with the sarcasm it reads the exact opposite which is what Bradstreet intended. To Bradstreet God was merciless and unjust to her and she wants that be shown in her poem even if not everybody knows the truth. Edward Taylor like Bradstreet uses diction to show his anger at God’s actions.
Taylor uses the words dolesome and darksome to describe the time the time God came to take his child away. This chose of diction is telling on Taylor feeling on this action. These aren’t nice pretty words they are dark, sad and angry words. Taylor did not choose these words randomly he chose words that would get his point across. The anger he is feeling at God for coming at this moment and taking the child. This is not him trying to cope this him expressing the feeling of anger at God. He wants to let it be known that when God took his child it was not a bright happy thing but a thing of grief and darkness. Taylor combined this negative diction with his lack of reverence in the lines prior to show anger. Taylor chose not to capitalize the word representing God but did capitalize angels. Doing this let the audiences know that Taylor was furious at God. He did not carry this anger to the angels that carried his child to heaven though. He does this because his anger is directed at one specific being and no one else. Taylor also capitalizes the word associated with the death of his child. Showing the death of his child was more significant to him at this moment than God was. Taylor also does this to show how much respect he puts in God action in this moment, which was
nothing. He held no respect for God and didn’t mine showing at the strongest point of his grief. To hide this anger this lack of respect in the end Taylor did capitalize the name ‘Christ’ after his interesting chose of diction and words he capitalize and didn’t capitalize. He did this to hide his previous lines true significance. Bradstreet and Taylor both had different ways of showing their anger at God and society but both clearly get their anger across while managing to cloak it enough to keep them safe from excommunication.
Bradstreet focuses on the joy of her grandchild in heaven instead of her own pain. In dealing with this common reality of colonial life, Taylor and Bradstreet respond with similar outpourings reflective of their faith.
“Among all my experiences of God’s gracious dealings with me I have constantly observed this, that He hath never suffered me long to sit loose from him...” (Bradstreet 68). Anne Bradstreet is showing her devotion to God and is focusing on his love and mercy. Bradstreet found inspiration in William Shakespeare but more importantly what drove her poetry was religious beliefs. Being born into a Puritan family, Bradstreet became accustomed to Puritan behavior and had a strong belief in God. Jonathan Edwards, another strong believer in God, had the same Puritan beliefs but thought if a person shall sin they would be destined to end up in hell. Edwards is an extreme pastor and this is shown in the sermon, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.” The two being the ideal Puritan religion have strong opinions on viewing God
One of the major differences in Bradstreet and Edwards’ writing styles is how angry and demanding Edwards’ works are compared to the logical and rather positive works of Bradstreet. Bradstreet said, “I prize thy love more than the whole mines of gold…” (116, Line 5), this renders the image of Bradstreet relying on love more than money because love isn’t superficial, and this demenstrates the logical side of her writing. When it came to “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”, the writing style is angry, for example when Edwards said, “So that, thus it is that natural men… they have deserved the fiery pit.” (126). Not only does this exhibit his vextation and absurdity, but it also shows a side of religion that differs from Anne Bradstreet’s. Edwards hates the unconverted man, and he believes that if you aren’t converted, that you anger God and he will send you to hell. Bradstreet on the other side believes that if those who worship God, he will always be there to assist them, even if they aren’t completely converted, which is odd for two converted Puritans to differ on these
Bradstreet was a Puritan and was therefore raised with a simplistic view of the world. This, combined with the fact that she was a woman, carried over into her way of writing. Her writing style was not eloquent but plain, humble, and pleasant to read. Her poems dealt with topics such as faith, family, and adversity and were easy to understand. Bradstreet had great faith which she gained through the experiences she encountered in life.
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
Bradstreet also made it appoint to compare the sudden death of her grandchild to nature stating, “But plants new set to be eradicate, / And buds new blown to have so short a date, / Is by His hands alone that guides nature and fate”( lines 12-14). Conversely, Edward describes his loss of his child as a honor from God. Taylor states, “ Lord take’t. I thank Thee, Thou tak’st ought of mine: / It is my pledge in glory, part of me / Is now in it, Lord glorified with Thee” revealing his honor to have his child sitting with the lord (Edward lines 28-30). Both authors took their faith into great consideration when speaking of the loss of a family
It dictated most of her way of living. She writes about her many struggles between her “flesh” and “the Spirit”. She is honest about sometimes feeling inadequate and wanting to digress away from God’sS way. She includes a constant tension between her selfish thoughts and what she know is the best path. It is not so much a battle between personal beliefs and what one is expected to do. Rather it is a battle between what one is doing and what one already knows is the best route in thinking and living. Bradstreet’s family moved from England to the New England in order to follow this movement of Puritans creating a new life in accordance to the church (White, p.103). So she was well aware of Christian principles and very familiar with the Bible. In Some Verses upon the Burning of Our House she talks mostly about the many vanities of this world and that one should focus on things that are eternal. She
Edward Taylor’s Upon Wedlock, and Death of Children and Upon a Wasp Chilled with Cold are similar in their approach with the illustration of how beautiful and magnificent God’s creations are to humankind. However, each poem presents tragic misfortune, such as the death of his own children in Upon Wedlock, and Death of Children and the cold, enigmatic nature of human soul in Upon a Wasp Chilled with Cold. Taylor’s poems create an element of how cruel reality can be, as well as manifest an errant correlation between earthly life and spiritual salvation, which is how you react to the problems you face on earth determines the salvation that God has in store for you.
In Anne Bradstreet's poem "The Author to Her Book," the controlling metaphor is the image of a baby being born and cared for. This birth imagery expresses the complex attitude of the speaker by demonstrating that the speaker's low regard for her own work and her actions are contradictory.
Gwendolyn Brooks' poem "The mother" tells us about a mother who had many abortions. The speaker is addressing her children in explain to them why child could not have them. The internal conflict reveals that she regret killing her children or "small pups with a little or with no hair." The speaker tells what she will never do with her children that she killed. She will "never neglect", "beat", "silence", "buy with sweet", " scuffle off ghosts that come", "controlling your luscious sigh/ return for a snack", never hear them "giggled", "planned", and "cried." She also wishes she could see their "marriage", "aches", "stilted", play "games", and "deaths." She regrets even not giving them a "name" and "breaths." The mother knows that her decision will not let her forget by using the phrase "Abortions will not let you forget." The external conflict lets us know that she did not acted alone in her decision making. She mentions "believe that even in my deliberateness I was not deliberate" and "whine that the crime was other than mine." The speaker is saying that her decision to have an abortion was not final yet but someone forced her into having it anyway. The external conflict is that she cannot forget the pain on the day of having the abortions. She mentions the "contracted" and "eased" that she felt having abortions.
...e from her love to the world. Perhaps, she believed that in this love of her, she became God-like and God thus punishes her. Nevertheless, the presence of God in her poems is more than clear. Perhaps, it was due to religious beliefs that she though that it was wrong to feel too strong feelings to world and she considered herself to be a sinner who deserves punishment. Today, there are few followers of Bradstreet, but she, her ideas and her thoughts about sufferings still remain in modern books.
The paradox of Shepard’s passage is one that the early Puritans not only firmly believed but also lived day in and day out. As a central tenet of their existence, this paradox led Puritans to experience a constant internal struggle between two aspects of the Puritan self: the sinful, wicked side and the redeemed, saved side. Significantly, the struggle became a common motif in many Puritan works, including Anne Bradstreet’s “The Flesh and the Spirit.” In this poem, Bradstreet describes not only the dual self that was the result of Puritan theology but also the psychological significance of the Puritan paradox. “The Flesh and the Spirit” demonstrates that the road to attainment of grace, and thus to salvation, lies not in resolving the conflict between the two aspe...
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
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.
By reading Bradstreet’s work, a fair sense of what Mrs. Bradstreet was like can be grasped. She clearly stated her opinion of those who objected to her writing: “I am obnoxious to each carping tongue, / Who says my hand a needle better fits.” (Bradstreet,“ The Prologue”155). Bradstreet refused to give up her passion for writing even if it meant going against the opinions of anyone in her colony, including religious leaders. Although Bradstreet referred to herself as being obnoxious, her written works portray an entirely different Bradstreet. She seeks no reward or fame for her writing: “Give thyme or parsley wreath, I ask no bays” (155). Bradstreet seeks no reward for her writing because she doesn’t think her work is very good: “My foolish, broken, blemished Muse so sings” (154). She refers to her writing as her: “ill-formed offspring” (“The Author To Her Book”165). Even after her work is published she is ...