En-209-006, Smith En-209-135, Wiley 22 September 2015 Bradstreet “Upon the Burning of Our House” Anne Bradstreet’s poem Upon the Burning of Our House was during 1666 and in this time a women’s main role was having and raising children. Bradstreet had eight children and some of her poems were about her love for them. The health and success of her children made her mindful of God’s love. Bradstreet was also a Puritan and a lot of her poems are about God and her faith, this is shown throughout Upon the Burning of Our House. When Bradstreet suffers with a tragedy she tries to look at the bigger picture and find the good in whatever the tragedy may be. In this poem she does this by knowing that all her stuff does not belong to her. Her things …show more content…
belong to God and since they are his, he is can take them away from her at anytime. Bradstreet often turns her thoughts towards heaven; she realizes that there are bigger and better things God has planned for her in heaven. Bradstreet shows her relationship with God and her faith in this scene. In the beginning of the poem when the poet goes to bed one night she wakes up to the screaming word ‘Fire!” She immediately calls out to god, she realizes that her belongings are not all hers they belong to god and he has the ability to take them away from her whenever he wants to.
“It was His own, it was not mine, Far be it that I should repine; He might of all justly bereft But yet sufficient for us left.” In the scene after she walks by the place that was once her home she remembers the things she once owned. She expresses her memories with the place that was once her home. “My pleasant things in ashes lie, And them behold no more shall I. Under thy roof no guest shall sit, Nor at thy table eat a bit.” Even though the poet is sad when she sees that all her memories from that house might be gone she realizes that better is coming. She talks about how there is a better home built by God waiting for her in heaven. “Thou hast an house on high erect, Framed by that mighty Architect, With glory richly furnished, Stands permanent though this be fled. It’s purchased and paid for too By Him who hath enough to do.” These few lines show how there is a better house in her future that is made by God, she talks about how it is paid for and is framed by a mighty architect and is nicely …show more content…
furnished. This specific scene does a really good job on showing how Bradstreet shows her faith and relationship with God.
Later on in this poem in line 41 Bradstreet explains her house being “house on high erect” this is a metaphor showing how she went from thinking she was hopeless to realizing her faith in God was growing. Bradstreet’s tone throughout the poem does change some; it starts to change when she is focusing on her things not belonging to her but to God. Then it changes once again when she passes by the place that was once her home. Looking at this text as a whole shows how throughout the whole poem Bradstreet never questioned there wasn’t a God. The last lesson that Bradstreet learned is that her wealth will improve in heaven. She explains this in lines 51 through 54 “There’s wealth enough, I need no more, Farewell, my pelf, farewell my store. The world no longer let me love, My hope and treasure lies above.” She is explaining that she doesn’t need any more wealth on earth because in heaven she will gain
more. Without the first scene the poem would not have the effect that it does. Bradstreet does a great job displaying how she has faith. She starts off by having a tragedy happen to her making her express her faith. Bradstreet talks about God throughout the middle of the poem and then later she focuses on heaven. Without all of these scenes the poem wouldn’t do the job of showing Bradstreet’s faith. One of the main reasons why I chose this certain scene is because the way it relates to Bradstreet being a puritan. It compares her house burning down to her faith.
Bradstreet compares mankind to nature eventually concluding that the eternal things matter most. Also, Bradstreet, more than Taylor, give us a glimpse into her personal life. She writes her feelings to her husband, ponders future events, reminisces her childhood, and mourns her loss of house and
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
Anne Bradstreet loves her children so much because she raised them all with pain and care. Bradstreet often talks about her children loving people, and people loving them, “And with her mate flew out of sight” (14) and out of her reach so she can not watch over them. Bradstreet’s strong Puritan heritage gives her unquestionable belief that God is watching over her children for her, and her children are watching for God. With this relationship between her and God, Anne Bradstreet accepts the departure of her children. In this poem Anne Bradstreet talks about success, “Coupled with mate loving and true” (23) this is Bradstreet’s idea of success for her children in this poem. Anne Bradstreet’s idea of success is so much more than just this line, in the fact that she wants her children to be educated, and live good productive Christian lives. All of these things are implied in the poem as simple as finding a mate and “flying” off.
For the most part of the poem she states how she believes that it is Gods calling, [Then ta’en away unto eternity] but in other parts of the poem she eludes to the fact that she feels more like her granddaughter was stolen from her [or sigh thy days so soon were terminate]. One of the main beliefs in these times was that when someone died it was their time; God needed them and had a better plan. Both poets found peace in the idea that God had the children now and it was part of the plan, but are also deeply saddened and used poetry as a coping mechanism.
Bradstreet’s last learned lesson is her wealth does not come from the things she gains on earth but her true wealth lies in heaven. She begins Stanzas 37-42 rebuking her thoughts of what will no longer take place in her ash filled home. Furthermore, Bradstreet gives her depiction of the “heavenly” place in Stanzas 43-48; which is built on permanent grounds and consist of expensive furniture all financed by God. In the last Stanzas of the poem Bradstreet begins focusing on the place where wealth is defined:
During the 17th century religion was a major them of American writing. The difference between these New World Puritans and the Old World Roman Catholics and church of England Anglicans, the obstacles the settlers faced in the New World, and their own personal struggles with faith made this subject inevitable. Bradstreet portrays her struggles with death, life, and faith in the poems” Before the Birth of one of her Children” and ‘’Here Follows Some Verses upon the Burning of our house 1666” As well as her letter “To My Dear Children’’. Rowlandson in her text “A Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Rowlandson” provides an account of her captivity at the hands of Indians. Both authors are good examples of Puritan thinking as both depict their personal struggles and solutions they found as good
...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.
Anne Bradstreet believes if she lives her life the way God meant her to live it, things will work out fine for her. She writes, "About 16, the Lord laid His hand sore upon me and smote me with the smallpox. When I was in my affliction, I besought the Lord and confessed my pride and vanity, and He was entreated of me and again restored me" (145). Bradstreet has a traditional view about God. She believes if she lives her life as a good person, she will be rewarded for it. If she lives her life full of pride and vanity, then she will pay the consequences. The good and just are rewarded ...
She caught severe disease after only two years of arriving in America. Her sickness and expectation of death strengthened her faith and made her consider each day as being her last day. After she recovered from her sickness, she believed that to be blessing. Her sickness became a turning point and self realization for Bradstreet. She built a strong foundation for her faith as a Puritan woman and overcame all her doubts about the existence of God and started to seek salvation from God. When her husband was a way for business, she missed him because of her true and deep love for him. Yet his absent and severe physical and emotional feeling created inner conflict between worldly desire and spirituality. Her love for her husband competed with her love for God. But by using her writing, she sustained her faith and overcame her physical
This piece of literature although certainly expected to be frowned upon, was accepted quite openly and many had read it. She wrote a poem named, "Upon the Burning of Our House July 10th, 1666." This poem was inspired from when her house was burned down along with the majority of her estimated 800 books! She rejects the anger of this world and instead looks to God for reassurance. She was a Puritan by religion, and her husband often appeared in much of her poetry and sometime even the central theme of the literature even though her religion clearly states that a earthly marriage should not distract from full devotion to God. An often present theme in Anne Bradstreet's work was the principles of deliverance and redemption. She believed that she was punished with marital problems and illness because of any sins she has committed. She also believed that, "Suffering was God's way of preparing the heart for accepting His
In spite of the fact that she composes the verse, clearly, the lyric is a great deal more convoluted than it at first appears. It offers many intriguing bits of knowledge into the part of the female artist, her brain science, and the verifiable setting of the work. Bradstreet composed the lyric in measured rhyming. The lyric communicates Bradstreet 's emotions about her brother by marriage distribution of some of her sonnets in 1650, which she didn 't know about until the volume was discharged. Utilizing the allegory of parenthood, she depicts the book as her youngster. Like a defensive mother, she noticed that the volume was "sick formed" and grabbed far from her before it was prepared for freedom. The "companions" who took it were "less astute than genuine," implying that while their activities were imprudent, these individuals absolutely did not have malignant goals. Since the work has been distributed without giving the artist time to redress any blunders, it is out on the planet while it is back in her grasp. At initially, she depicts the recently bound volume as "maddening in my sight," not able to overlook the blemishes she wished she had the chance to address. She wishes she could show her work in its best form yet that is presently inconceivable - she portrays washing its face yet at the same time observing soil and stamps. Be that as it may, the artist can 't resist the
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.