Bradstreet further highlights her internal struggle between her love for her material possessions and her relationship with God through her usage of literary devices such as personification, and various allusions to her Puritan faith. While describing her grievance for the loss of her items, Bradstreet states that “to my God my heart did cry / To straighten me in my Distress / And not to leave me succourless” (8-10). The personification of Bradstreet’s heart emphasizes that despite mourning the loss of material items, she desperately seeks the guidance of God and does not want to be left helpless. Later, Bradstreet also personifies the ruins of her home, stating, “No pleasant talk shall ‘ere be told / Nor things recounted done of old. / No candle ‘ere shall shine in Thee, / Nor …show more content…
Additionally, Bradstreet frequently alludes to ideologies to her Puritan background as a way of justifying the burning of her house. After the shock of first seeing her home in flames, she reassures herself that “Far be it that I should repine; / He might of all justly bereft” (18-19). These lines strongly display the devotion Bradstreet has to her Puritan faith. Despite having virtually nothing, she claims the sufficiency of what she does have, and justifies God’s actions of taking away her belongings for her own good. Furthermore additional ideologies are exemplified in the last lines as Bradstreet concludes, “The world no longer let me love, / My hope and treasure lies above.” (53-54). This final self-realization emphasizes the idea that she will live a devout life through loving God. Confidence in God’s willpower “lies above”, as she will finally be guided on the right path. Overall, the language and style of the poem depicts Bradstreet's journey through self realization, discovery, and finally reassurance in that God will prevail and her faith will soon come to meet her in
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
Anne Bradstreet’s inability to perfect her work before it was released frustrated her to the point where she internalizes the book’s imperfections as a reflection of herself. Bradstreet uses an extended metaphor of a mother and a child to compare the relationship between herself as the author and her book. Rather than investing her spirit in God, she repeatedly focuses on trying to improve the quality of her writing with no success, “I washed thy face, but more defects I saw” (Bradstreet 13). Like a mother protecting her child, Bradstreet’s attempts to prevent critics from negatively analyzing her work of art (20). Her continuous obsession about people’s opinions consumed in the Earthly world and essentially distracted her from developing a spiritual relationship with God. Bradstreet was enveloped by her dissatisfaction with her to the point of ridiculing herself, “Thou ill-formed offspring of my feeble mind” (1). It was obvious that her mind and spiritual
Bradstreet tested the boundaries of the Puritan beliefs and chose to write about life as a wife and mother. The love for her husband was more important than what others thought of her. She was proud of their relationship and stated, “I prize thy love more than whole mines of gold, or all the riches that the East doth hold. My love is such that rivers cannot quench, Nor ought but love from thee give recompense” a verse from her poem titled To My Dear and Loving Husband (226). Her poems stood as a movement for all radical feminists that admired Bradstreet and her confidence to express her opinions publicly. Religion was a common topic throughout Bradstreet’s poem, but there was a time as
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
In all of Bradstreet’s works she is constantly expressing herself through her figurative language that whoever reads the poetry can’t help but sense the feelings through any piece. An...
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.
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:
...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.
In Bradstreet’s poem ‘In Memory of My Dear Grandchild Elizabeth Bradstreet, Who Deceased August, 1665, Being a Year and a Half Old’ religion plays a key part on managing the grief of death. Being ‘with the Lord forever’ was a promise in ‘My Dear and Loving Husband’ whereas in ‘Memory of My Dear Grandchild it is used to bring comfort. The promise that Elizabeth Bradstreet is ‘then ta’en away unto eternity’ where the Puritan belief suggests she will endure for ‘forever’ and thus they shall meet again. The Puritan belief that ‘we are parted for a little while, but we shall see them again’ helps Bradstreet deal with the grief of the death of her grandchild. Puritanism has clearly permeated every aspect of Bradstreet’s life as her first act in desperate times is to look to her faith but also seeks her religion in every relationship she has whether it be romantic, with her husband, or familial. Bradstreet seeks to celebrate her faith in God through her poetry, using it as a form of worship making it a clear tool for voicing her Puritan
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
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 ...