How Did Anne Bradstreet Use Extended Metaphor

In the 1600s, England colonized the Northeast region of North America. This region, also known as New England, is the birthplace to various works of literature. 1600 New England saw the emergence of many prominent works and writers, many of whom were English. One well-known writer was Anne Bradstreet. Anne Bradstreet was one of the first poets to have a published work in the North American colonies. Bradstreet was a Puritan, and as a result, her poems referenced God at least once. Besides mentioning God, her poems also feature symbolism and extended metaphors. Throughout Bradstreet’s poems, Bradstreet blends domestic and theological imagery into her writings via extended metaphors and symbols.
One example of Bradstreet’s usage of extended metaphors and

symbols can be seen in “To My Dear and Lovely Husband.” In this eleven-lined poem, Bradstreet is talking about how much she loves her husband.

This poem features less theological imagery than domestic. Bradstreet uses the words “money,” “ever,” and “love” as symbols to help her readers understand the severity of her love. Instead of mentioning money that we know of, Bradstreet instead replaces them with gold and riches. She also mentions payments to describe her love. By saying she loves her husband more than gold mines and the then unexplored wealth of the East, is using domestic imagery to picture how much worth her love for her husband is (5-6). The metaphor of payment is used in lines 8-10,to represent how relationships are like a transaction. Something must be given in return for something. I feel, in this case, that this transaction is an unequal exchange of love because she says she cannot repay his bountiful love, instead he receives compensation from Heaven (9-10). Line 10 shows theoretical imagery. Bradstreet is saying that God will repay her husband the remaining amounts of love she cannot give. Ever is interpreted in two different ways. In the first four lines, ever means at any time. For example, in line 1 Bradstreet says that if at any time two people can become one, then that would be her and

her husband (1). In the last two lines, ever means forever. She uses this when she is explaining how they, they being Mr. and Mrs. Bradstreet, must remain in love in order to live forever (11-12). The symbol love, can be seen throughout the poem. From becoming one to living forever, Bradstreet uses a various amount of imagery to show readers simply how much she loves her husband, and vice versa. The biggest metaphor, in my opinion, that Bradstreet uses is in line 7. Bradstreet uses the words “river” and “quench” to show that her love is like a fire that cannot be stopped by a river. To me, the use of these words depicts a sappy romantic love of a couple in their first few weeks of a relationship.