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Summary of on the burning of our house
Upon the burning of our house SUMMARY
Upon the burning of our house SUMMARY
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Anne Bradstreet, the author of the poem “Here Follows Some Verses upon the Burning of Our House” shows how strong her religious Puritan beliefs are throughout this specific poem. The poem is a complete justification of Bradstreet’s belief in God’s work. Bradstreet explains throughout this descriptive poem that everything she owns belongs to God, even her house, which many people claim a house to be sacred. Bradstreet relates everything she owns as God’s and not hers. Everything that happens is because of God, she lives her life through God. With knowing the plot questions arise as to why the author accepted her house burning to the ground. How can one be stripped of all their earthly belongings and be left destitute and still praise God for doing (her) such a favor? Why do the righteous suffer? Is Faith rational? Bradstreet fights within herself weather her possessions are the most …show more content…
important to her or weather God is number one. The debate is an eternal one. This poem is clear to be a complete Puritan writing done by Bradstreet herself discussing her thoughts of watching her house and her possessions burn into ash. In a sense Bradstreet finds a way to make the reader feel as though they are as well watching their beloved processions burn to ash as well. However instead of using words to describe her emotion of devastation she uses words that describe her devotion and faith to God. So what is really more important to Bradstreet? God and her religion seem to come before her processions and even her house. So how can Bradstreet be stripped off all her belongings and praise God for doing her a favor? Bradstreet says on line 17 “It was His own, it was not mine, Far be it that I should repine.” She believes that no matter what it is that she owns it truly does belong to God and when the day comes that she loses it she cannot be mad because it never belonged to her to begin with. Within the poem Bradstreet starts to reminisce back on her belongings.
On line 27 she states “My pleasant things in ashes lie, And them behold no more shall I.” The possessions of Bradstreet’s that did burn were sentimental to her. So why do the righteous suffer? Bradstreet believes that no loss is something that someone shall suffer from. This is where within the poem that Bradstreet shows a conflict against her faith. She misses the things that burns. She realizes that no longer will she sit at the kitchen table to eat, or have a roof over her head to tell stories. The first thought that run’s through Bradstreet’s mind is to ask God for help. Bradstreet states “I, starting up, the light did spy, And to my God my heart did cry.” (Bradstreet, line 7) Bradstreet was in complete distress and the first thought was to ask for help to her God. This conflict was quickly over when Bradstreet realized that her processions belong to God even though she is longing for the memories that are now burned to the ground. Nothing is lost when you have all your treasures in Heaven to look forward
too. Debating on whether faith is rational to Bradstreet is that God has given us everything that we own and he can take it away just as quick as we received it. The poem opens with Bradstreet sleeping and not expecting anything back to happen until she heard shrieking and loud houses. Bradstreet felt helpless and did not know any possible way to save her burning house. Faith is rational to Bradstreet because she believed that there had to be a reason to why God was burning all of her possessions. The faith of God is so important to Bradstreet that she couldn’t ask for anything more, even if that means she had to lose everything that she loves. Wealth cannot be defined by belongings on earth. Bradstreet states “Then straight I ‘gin my heart to chide: and did thy wealth on earth abide, didst fix thy hope on moldering dust, the arm of flesh didst make thy trust?” (Bradstreet line 37-40) Bradstreet knew that she couldn’t let her life be over because of in a sense a pile of dust on the ground. She starts to believe that her house was only a house and that it can be replaced along with all the objects that were inside of it. Although even while she is shearing her thoughts after looking at all the ruins she is still remenisizing on her memories that will now never continue. What favor did God do her by taking away everything that made Bradstreet who she is? Bradstreet states “Raise up thy thoughts above the sky, that dunghill mists away may fly” (Bradstreet line 41) which shows the ultimate decision of the eternal debate she had going on in her mind. This was where the poem took a slight change to show the decision that Bradstreet made. Bradstreet is explaining that her ultimate home is in Heaven, not in the one that just burned to the ground. As long as Bradstreet focuses on getting to Heaven she will have a beautiful house filled of everything she could’ve ever asked for. She talks along the lines that if you do good by God then you will be given the enteral gift of going to Heaven, a place where material things during your lifetime don’t have a meaning. Bradstreet ends the poem with the lines “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.” (Bradstreet line 51-55) Bradstreet is explaining that knowing that she will live the rest of her life in heaven is all she needs in life. When she uses the word “fret” she is explaining that the house that she once loved, that just burned to the ground, isn’t what she needs to survive. Material things aren’t what you need to live by. Bradstreet believes the only thing you need to live by is faith in God and knowing that your eternal life is in Heaven with him. Everything that Bradstreet needs in life will be in heaven waiting for her when she is granted eternal life. It becomes clear that God is Anne’s first priority. Her faith was tested and she leads the reader to believe that God was testing her to see if her faith was more important than her possessions. The eternal battle in Bradstreet’s mind taught her how her faith in God is stronger than her personal possessions. She had moments where she was depressed and thought about begging God for help to save her and then came to the conclusion that life will be okay without them. The tone of the poem in the beginning shows you how much Bradstreet’s prides her possessions. However at the end the tone of the poem changes and shows the acceptance in Bradstreet as she bids farewell to her materialistic way of viewing life.
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
“Among all my experiences of God’s gracious dealings with me I have constantly observed this, that He hath never suffered me long to sit loose from him...” (Bradstreet 68). Anne Bradstreet is showing her devotion to God and is focusing on his love and mercy. Bradstreet found inspiration in William Shakespeare but more importantly what drove her poetry was religious beliefs. Being born into a Puritan family, Bradstreet became accustomed to Puritan behavior and had a strong belief in God. Jonathan Edwards, another strong believer in God, had the same Puritan beliefs but thought if a person shall sin they would be destined to end up in hell. Edwards is an extreme pastor and this is shown in the sermon, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.” The two being the ideal Puritan religion have strong opinions on viewing God
In the late 1600’s, literature is dissimilar from today’s, such as focusing on being sent into the fiery pits of hell only because one hasn’t converted to Puritanism. There are also different types of writing to display the righteousness and positives of being a converted and loyal to the Puritan culture. Anne Bradstreet and Jonathan Edwards are two popular Puritan authors who project different messages and portray a varying energy through a slim number of their pieces. The poems, “To My Dear and Loving Husband” or “Upon the Burning of Our House” by Anne Bradstreet or “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” by Jonathan Edwards are fit examples of the Puritan age and what Puritans belive to be religiously
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...
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
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:
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.
...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
Anne Bradstreet was a Puritan. Much like all the other Puritans of her time she examined her conscience daily and that they always felt that they were humbled by God's creations and powers. One poem in which she expresses her religion's ideas and philosophies was "Contemplations".
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.
Anne Bradstreet wrote poetry in a time when only Puritan men were publishing writing, mostly about their faith and religion. Thus, she was the first woman in the colonies to be published and received a lot of criticism for it. At this time, there were roles that women were expected to fill, specifically wife and mother roles, and going against these roles could have grand consequences. While her poems may seem simple and domestic, they contain a more complex meaning when looked at closely. Through many of her poems, Bradstreet expressed her frustration towards her society’s gender norms and went against the Patriarchal ideas of the Puritan society.