Comparing Bradstreet's To My Dear And Loving Husband

Though “To My Dear and Loving Husband” has been around for a few centuries and has very easily detectable themes and elements, the content in Anne Bradstreet’s poem is still quite relevant to today’s relationships. With recurrent usage of effects, words such as love, and the feeling of love and religious views, “To My Dear and Loving Husband” holds elements of honesty, reality for the time period, and wisdom throughout the twelve line poem. The theme of love is constant throughout and made out to be of high importance.

Initially, the theme in “To My Dear and Loving Husband” is simple and concise. In the poem love is made out to be very important to the poet. Therefore I feel the overall theme for this poem is love. I believe it to be love because of the many mentions of the word itself. Not only does the word “love” itself appear throughout the poem, the many forms of love are also used. In the 1600’s when Puritans walked the Earth in abundance, love and

religion went hand in hand. If a man and his wife were children of God and did not sin, one would be welcomed to the kingdom of Heaven.
Evidence to support the theme is as follows.

In a blunt sort of way the claim is illustrated in the first line: “If ever two were one, then surely we” (1), I believe the line means if ever two people were so compatible, so enthralled, enthused and in love with one another, it was the poet and her beloved. I believe that Anne Bradstreet was so in love and so enamored with the man in the poem that she thought herself the happiest woman. That no other women could ever be as happy as she is. The poet uses a multitude of metaphors and repetition throughout the poem. “My love is such that rivers cannot quench,/Thy love is such I can no way repay” (8-9), both lines being metaphors. Line 8 I believe is meaning that her desire and love for that man is comparable to a thirst, and the thirst she feels is unquenchable. I feel line 9 to mean that the love the man gives to her, is such she cannot repay in the same fashion, for he loves her all too much. Her husband’s love is so grand, she cannot fathom trying to repay

him.
Repetition used throughout the poem is both scarce and effective. Lines such as “If ever two were one, then surely we/If ever man were loved by wife then thee;/ If ever wife was happy in a man” (1-3). The repeating “If ever” in the first three lines makes it known that poet is comparing her love for her husband, and the love her husband has for her. While not exactly repetition, the word “love” is mentioned quite a bit, and in various ways. While being mentioned in the poem only 6 times, the word “love” is tossed about with a variety of meanings. Some being in different tenses and some being someone else’s love altogether.
In conclusion, I feel “To My Dear and Loving Husband” makes its claim effectively. The theme of love and mention of religion fuses both primal and modern emotions and concerns to convey her love for her husband and the desire to live on after death with her beloved. Not only to spend a mortal life with her husband, but forevermore in an afterlife she puts all faith and devotion into. While we live, let us love the same so when we live no more, we can live forever (11-12). The metaphors of love and how much more it means than materials and riches makes me believe that she is sincere and honest in saying so. The repetition Anne Bradstreet uses in her poem is effective in getting the claim she wants to deliver across. The claim being, they are in love and that if ever two people were so in love, it would be those two. The formality and classic way it was composed allows for a fluid reading and for me it adds a more interesting aspect, emotional connection and sincerity to the poem.