Anne Bradstreet and Edward Taylor wrote elaborate poems influenced by their faith and life experiences. Coming from devout Puritans living in newly settled land, both of their writings have similar elements. One shared theme gives insight to the harshness of colonial life. They both used poetry to express their sadness at the death of their children, yet both with a tone of acceptance and hope, trusting that God knows best. Taylor grieved the loss of two infant daughters. He describes them as flowers writing:
Grief o’er doth flow: and nature fault would find
Were not Thy Will, my Spell, Charm, Joy, and Jem:
In joy, may I sweet flowers for glory breed,
Whether thou get’st them green, or lets them seed. (147)
He can yield his children with peace
…show more content…
because he trusts in God’s plan. In the case of Bradstreet, her 18-month old granddaughter received a poetic goodbye: Farewell fair flower that for a space was lent, Then ta’en away unto eternity .
. .
Blest babe, why should I once bewail thy fate, . . .
Sith thou art settled in an everlasting state. (121)
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.
While Anne Bradstreet and Edward Taylor wrote along many of the same lines, they each claim their own personalities and style that illuminate their poems. Bradstreet draws attention to the beauty of nature and its Creator in one particularly lengthy poem contemplating the shortness of life. Entitled “Contemplations,” this poem asks:
Shall I then praise the heavens, the trees, the earth
Because their beauty and their strength last longer? . . .
Nay, they shall darken, perish, fade, and die,
And when unmade, so ever shall they lie, . . . (116)
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
family. By contrast, Taylor muses more on his relationship to God, yet he also incorporates images of nature. Taylor emphasizes the great difference between himself and God. The immense and infinite God compared to the feeble speck of the man. He starts the “Prologue” this way: Lord, Can a Crumb of Dust the Earth outweigh, Outmatch all mountains, nay, the Crystal sky? Embosom in’t designs that shall Display And trace into the Boundless Deity? (144) God’s creation displays His immensity at which Taylor can only wonder. Further on, Taylor acknowledges that “I am this Crumb . . .” (145). He often longs, in his poems, for God to use him to show glory and praise to God. Although focused on lofty matters, he utilizes down to earth metaphors incorporating nature and home life. At one point, in the poem “Huswifery,” he requests, “Make me, O Lord, Thy Spinning Wheel complete” (149). Taylor wanted God to prepare him for eternity, and in this poem, likens it to the process of making cloth. Through poetry, Anne Bradstreet and Edward Taylor record thoughts and experiences of their day. Their desires, feelings, and observations about life intertwine with naturistic imagery and prayers to God. Their work is a beautiful delivery of reflections and reality. Whether sympathizing with Anne Bradstreet or contemplating with Edward Taylor we get a feel for Puritan life in early America. With each of their own emphasis, the poems of Anne Bradstreet and Edward Taylor leave great insights into these unique characters.
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.
The first part in this poem, "If ever two were one" (1) sets us with expectations to continue with the reading. These words show that Bradstreet and her husband were really in love, that this love could unite two persons and make them one. Bradstreet and her husband think, act, and feel much like they are part of each other. The tone of this poem tells us that she is a very religious, because she speaks of praying and the heavens. We get the impression that she is a very dedicated person, to her family and to God. She...
Although Anne Bradstreet appeared to be the ideal Puritanical housewife, she faced many hardships throughout her lifetime. She faced death often, either due to disease or childbirth. These hardships led Bradstreet
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...
God; whereas Taylor wrote solely on his love for God. Bradstreet was a pioneer in the idea of writing about loving your husband and self. This was one of her greatest achievements and also greatest gifts to the world, even though it was not appropriate to write about such subjects she did anyway. The combination of Bradstreet and Taylors poetry about love prove to the world that love can exist in any part of life and should be appreciated and
Anne Bradstreet, whom most critics consider America’s first “authentic poet”, was born and raised as a Puritan. Bradstreet married her husband Simon at the tender age of eighteen. She wrote her poems while rearing eight children and performing other domestic duties. In her poem “Upon The Burning Of Our House, July 10th, 1666”, Bradstreet tells of three valuable lessons she learned from the fire that destroyed her home.
Anne Bradstreet is seen as a true poetic writer for the seventeenth century. She exhibits a strong Puritan voice and is one of the first notable poets to write English verse in the American colonies. Bradstreet’s work symbolizes both her Puritan and feminine ideals and appeals to a wide audience of readers. American Puritan culture was basically unstable, with various inchoate formations of social, political, and religious powers competing publicly. Her thoughts are usually on the reality surrounding her or images from the Bible. Bradstreet’s writing is that of her personal and Puritan life. Anne Bradstreet’s individualism lies in her choice of material rather than in her style.
They are not to draw attention to their relationship and keep their feelings repressed, Anne Bradstreet uses a variety of metaphors throughout her poems. For instance, in Bradstreet's poem "To My Dear and Loving Husband" she uses several poetic features and one being the use of metaphors. because they believe that their relationship to God is the most important thing and their personal relationship would take away from their believe to God. They believed through this believe to the God,they would find redemption and salvation and keep a strict moral mode, especially for women. Therefore, Anne Bradstreet's love poems to her husband are her way of expressing the emotions she keep love from the public.Anne Bradstreet intended for her work to only be seen by the eyes they were strictly intended to be met by her husband and children. She used her writing a way to handle with her loneliness when her husband was away for political affairs and her struggles with adapting to her new life in the
...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.
While other writers use their poetry to decipher the meaning of life, Anne Finch, Countess of Winchilsea was busy writing about how to live it. Five of her poems, “Jupiter and the Farmer,” “The Tree,” “The Shepherd Piping to the Fishes,” “Love, Death, and Reputation,” and “There’s No To-Morrow,” convey strong messages to the reader about how to live their lives. In her poetry, Anne Finch uses anecdotes to help illustrate the validity of her statements, thereby providing the reader with a strong, meaningful, and important message about how life should be lived.
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 ...