Anne Bradstreet Religion

“God takes away the world, that the heart may cleave more to Him in sincerity” –Thomas Watson. In other words, no matter what hardships God bequeaths to a person, they are expected to continue to love Him, praise Him, and worship Him; Puritans believe that God should not be questioned, that every materialistic object is his, and judging the decisions of the almighty is blasphemy. In Anne Bradstreet’s “Here Follow Some Verses upon the Burning of our House, July 10. 1666”, Anne adheres to Puritan conventions, while at the same time conveying slight dissent. Anne Bradstreet complies with her beliefs by stating how everything in existence is God’s, while also breaking the Puritan societal norms of her conservative counterparts of believing in the

Divine judgment and fairness by portraying her subtle feelings of disagreement with her God’s decisions.
Most, if not all, of Bradstreet’s views on the world originated from her life experiences. Anne Bradstreet (, Originally Anne Dudley,) was born in 1612 into a nonconformist family in England. While sailing to America with her family in 1630, Anne married Simon Bradstreet. When she began writing poems, Anne wasn’t anxious to be published because of the death of her friend, Anne Hutchinson, who was banished from the colony for her “heretical” beliefs that, “the Holy Spirit dwells within a justified person and so is not based on the good works necessary for admission to the church” (Woodlief ¶4).

Later in life, Bradstreet had 8 children, all of which survived their early years of childhood. Her children attempted to have grandchildren, many of which died. The deaths of her grandchildren were difficult to accept; however, she comforted herself by going back to her Puritan beliefs that they were part of God’s greater plan, and that they were like everything else: in God’s possession. When writing about all that she has lost, Bradstreet says, “It was his own, it was not mine, / Far be it that I should repine;” (Bradstreet Verses 17-18), his meaning God’s. The deaths of her grandchildren and not being able to “repine” about it to her deity sorrowed Bradstreet, inspiring her to write depressing poems, such as “In Memory of My Dear Grandchild Elizabeth Bradstreet” and “In Memory of my Dear Grandchild Anne Bradstreet, who deceased June 20, 1669, being Three Years and Seven Months Old”. When Bradstreet wrote poems, they were mostly for herself, her friends, and her family. Poetry that was published seemed

unoriginal compared to her personal works, which had her own flavor to them. Many of her personal works were about love and/or feminism, such as her poem about Queen Elizabeth the 1st, which asks the reader if feminine respect had died along with the British Queen. On July 10th, 1666, Bradstreet’s house burned down, inspiring her famous work, “Here Follow Some Verses upon the Burning of our House, July 10. 1666”. In this work, she ironically states that she may not question God, as though questioning him in an indirect way, “I blest His name that gave and took, / That laid my goods now in the dust. / Yea, so it was, and so ‘twas just.” (Bradstreet Verses 14-16). Bradstreet was already 54 years old at this time, and suffered from tuberculosis. After living a long life for her time, she died at the age of 60 on September 16, 1672, in Massachusetts.
As a Puritan, Anne Bradstreet had to follow strict rules, so as not to be punished or banished from her society, because the Puritans, “emphasized a redemptive piety. In principle, they emphasized conversion and not repression” (Kizer ¶7). Bradstreet often made it seem as she was, “…questioning God (or the harsh Puritan concept of a judgmental God)” (Woodlief ¶14). As a borderline rebel, Anne had to keep many of her poems private, while only releasing those that would not get her into trouble. In addition to writing about feminism, Bradstreet also wrote about her “questioning the power of the male hierarchy” (14), and even had subtle hints about the injustice of God. Examples of her feminist beliefs are in her poem “Prologue”, “Men have precedency and still excel; / It is but vain unjustly to wage war. / Men can do best, and Women know it well.” (Bradstreet Prologue 38-40). Examples of her questioning of God are in many works, such as “Here Follow Some Verses upon the Burning of our House, July 10. 1666”. Puritans had very strict moral codes because they, “believed that their role in society was to be a chosen people called to create a New Jerusalem” (Puritan Beliefs ¶6). These orthodox Christians followed all rules of the Sabbath, did not over-drink, and did all they could to avoid the fiery pits of hell because they believed that, “the Bible was God's true law” (Kizer ¶2). Bradstreet, unlike her conservative counterparts, subtly speaks out against the injustice of God. Furthermore, hen Anne pleaded with God to save her house, she makes it evident that God did not help, “And to my God my heart did cry / To straighten me in my Distress / And not to leave me succourless / … / I blest His name that gave and took, / That laid my goods now in the dust” (Bradstreet Verses 8-15). When Anne cried to God to help her while she was distressed, he let all of her belongings burn instead. This shows that the Puritan God doesn’t have a strong sense of morality. However, Anne also adheres to her religion’s conventions by justifying God’s actions, by pointing out that, “It was his own, it was not mine, / Far be it that I should repine;” (17-18). With her conflicting messages, Bradstreet both promotes God’s morality, and dissuades people of it. By doing so, Bradstreet stands out as a subtle voice of dissent.