Preview

Anne Bradstreet Themes

Better Essays
Open Document
Open Document
2036 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Anne Bradstreet Themes
Anne Bradstreet, one of the world’s most well known female Puritan writers, is known for her poems that are rich in detail and imagery, reflecting her passions and her faith. One of the most powerful and thought-provoking themes that she uses throughout her works is the comparison between life on earth and the afterlife, expressed by her thoughts and feelings that she so delicately laces in between the two ideas, tying the comparisons together.
Bradstreet made it clear in her literary works that she had a strong love for her earthly life, delighting in her husband and children, in the life they had together, as well as their home. However, she had an even stronger love for God, and her faith was what saw her through the trials she endured on earth. In one of her most well known poems, Upon the Burning of …show more content…
She ends it by saying that “Time [is] the fatal wrack of mortal things,” (stanza 33, line 1), stating that time will end all things earthly, except “he whose name is grav’d in the white stone,” (stanza 33, line 7) for they will be the ones to accept God’s grace in their hearts and receive His love and mercy and His gift of eternal life.
Many of Bradstreet’s poems reflect her love for this world and the next, but truly it is Contemplations that is the backbone of the theme. In the poem, as she meditates on God’s glory and the beautiful earth He created for man, she expresses a kind of conflict that many can relate to of the struggle between the love of the earthly world and the eternal world. Not only does the poem give readers a direct insight into her exact feelings, but also she expresses them in a way where she successfully addresses the ideal state of being for all Christians: being able to love the world without being of
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Poetry and Ann Bradstreet
    • 930 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Poetry and Ann Bradstreet

    4) Although she was deeply religious, what else did Ann Bradstreet show appreciation for in her poetry? How might this have been a struggle for her living as a Puritan? She demonstrated appreciation for the material and natural world. Because they thought personal emotions was dangerous.…

    • 930 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Bradstreet's Poetry versus Wheatley's
    • 611 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Bradstreet's Poetry versus Wheatley's

    Bradstreet talks about topics such as her relationship with her husband and children and her struggles with religion. In her poem “A Letter to Her Husband, Absent upon Public Employment,” her husband was gone and coming back soon, but whenever she looked at her children, she was reminded of him. She wished he was there with her because he is like the sun, full of warmth and kindness, and her life revolved around him; without him she would be nothing. In her poem “Before the Birth of One of Her Children,” she believed that she was going to die during childbirth, but she wasn’t the only one, because many women back then had the same fear. Also, if she passed away, she was worried that her children were going to end up with a horrible stepmother, so she frequently asked God to protect her and her children. Although Bradstreet was a woman who expressed great amounts of faith, she was often left struggling when her feelings turned to resentment, confusion, and betrayal towards everyone around her. Often things went badly for her, and she doubted God because she thought he was punishing her for the wrong things she had done. Since she doubted God, she would pray and realize that everything happens for a reason. She wasn’t being punished; there was a lesson that needed to be learned, and when she struggled, she wouldn’t dwell on her sinfulness, she continued with living her life.…

    • 611 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Anne Bradstreet vs Jonathan Edwards Literature
    • 311 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Anne Bradstreet vs Jonathan Edwards Literature

    Ann Bradstreet’s conception of a loving and giving God is not consistent with Jonathan Eduwards’, who views Him as evil and punishing. Even in the worst situation, such as the burning of her house and all of her possessions, she praises the Lord, and has enough faith to “bless His grace that gave and took” (Bradstreet 14). Bradstreet’s use of euphonious diction with soft s, c, v, and g sounds in phrases such as “bless His grace” give a tender, graceful mood to the poem. Also, her word choice has a positive connotation and suggests unconditional praise. She says that the world holds no promises for her, because her “hope and treasure lies above” (54). The irony in this line is relevant because Bradstreet has just lost everything she has ever had, but she realizes that her real treasure is found not in the material world, but in eternal salvation with God. Therefore, she views God as loving and giving due to the promises He has for her in heaven. Jonathan Edwards, however, does not view God in this way. He thinks that God, “the God that holds [him] over the pits of hell, much as one holds a spider or some loathsome insect over the fire, abhors [him]” (154). Fearful and tormented, Edwards thinks that God promises nothing but eternal damnation, which contrasts greatly with Bradstreet’s conception of a loving God. By comparing a sinner to a spider, Edwards is insinuating that they are a worthless annoyance to Him. Sinners are helpless in the hands of an angry God, the way spiders are helpless in the hands of an angry person. For these reasons, Ann Bradstreet’s conception of a kind and faithful Lord is different than Jonathan Edwards’ belief in an angry, punishing…

    • 311 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Anne Bradstreet Vs Edwards
    • 728 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Anne Bradstreet Vs Edwards

    The Puritan faith varied greatly between its public and private members during the 17th and 18th century. Anne Bradstreet shows the private side of the Puritan faith in her poem and Jonathan Edwards shows the public side of the Puritan faith. Bradstreet was a very successful colonial poet during the mid to late 17th century, while Edwards was a Puritan preacher who led the Great Awakening about seventy years after Bradstreet, in the 1730s and 1740s. Bradstreet’s poem “Upon the Burning of Our House,” written in 1666, and Edwards’s sermon “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God,” given in 1741, reveal the Puritan views on loving God. Although Bradstreet and Edwards both believe in an omnipotent God, Edwards believes that people should fear God and His unimaginable wrath toward them, while Bradstreet believes that God…

    • 728 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Schoolcraft's Here Follows Some Verses Upon The Burning Of Our House
    • 1293 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Schoolcraft's Here Follows Some Verses Upon The Burning Of Our House

    While faced with various hardships and tragedies, many early Americans turn to their belief in God’s active role in their daily lives in order to better understand and survive numerous difficulties. For example, Jane Johnston Schoolcraft depicts her firm belief in God’s active role in her daily life in her poem “Sweet Willy,” which illustrates the sorrow she faces in the wake of losing her young son, William. Throughout her poem, Schoolcraft describes that she believes God is exercising his active role in her daily life through providing her with relief and comfort while she grieves. Likewise, Anne Bradstreet conveys her faith in God’s constant influence in her poem “Here Follows Some Verses upon the Burning of Our House, July 10th, 1666;”…

    • 1293 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Mary Rowlandson vs Anne Bradstreet
    • 1010 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Mary Rowlandson vs Anne Bradstreet

    Mary Rowlandson and Anne Bradstreet are two women with different stories and one similar faith. Their similar faith in God and passion for writing allowed the two women to survive the contrast of hardships each woman had to endure. Furthermore, in this essay, I will compare and contrast the lives and faith of Rowlandson and Bradstreet.…

    • 1010 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Similarities Between Taylor And Anne Bradstreet
    • 187 Words
    • 1 Page

    Similarities Between Taylor And Anne Bradstreet

    Edward Taylor and Anne Bradstreet are both puritan poets of the seventeenth century who wrote for themselves as a form of worship, not for publication. In her poem “To My Dear Loving Husband,” Bradstreet writes, “The heavens reward thee manifold, I pray,” (10) about her husband showing her believe in God and heaven. Taylor writes in his poem “Huswifery,” “Make me, O Lord, Thy spinning wheel complete,” (1) showing his belief to God by directly addressing him in the poem. Both these poets are tied by their belief in God, but that doesn’t mean that their focuses are the exact same. Bradstreet’s poem focuses mainly upon her love for her husband, saying, “If ever two were one, then surely we./ If ever man were lov’d by wife, then thee” (1-2).…

    • 187 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Anne Bradstreet Tone
    • 479 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Anne Bradstreet Tone

    Bradstreet utilizes an iambic rhythm, rhyming couplets, inverted syntax, and pronounced shifts in tone to exemplify Puritan ideals at the time as well as emphasize the ongoing internal battle between her attachment to material things versus her relationship with God. Throughout the poem, she establishes a consistent eight syllable iambic rhythm accompanied with rhyming couplets. This well structured rhythm mirrors the similar strict lifestyle of Puritans at the time, whose lives were often based on order and a well structured world. Similarly, the rhyming couplets at the end of each line also follows a strict pattern in the poem. This structure is immediately established in the first two lines, as Bradstreet recalls, “In silent night when rest I took, / For sorrow near I did not look,” (1-2). The rhyming…

    • 479 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Anne Bradstreet
    • 1295 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Anne Bradstreet

    "The Flesh and the Spirit" was published in 1650. The poem is a conversation between Flesh and Spirit, which Bradstreet personifies as two arguing sisters. There is tension between these two aspects…

    • 1295 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The Literature of Puritan, speaks of Edward Taylor and Anne Bradstreet
    • 548 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The Literature of Puritan, speaks of Edward Taylor and Anne Bradstreet

    Anne Bradstreet aouthor of 'Upon the burning of our House.' This poem is one of the ones that I liked most because it tells a good point that we should not worry, love, Etc.. about earthly things over God and our faith because God will give and take away what ever he wants when ever he wants and we should be thankful for what he gives us and love and respect him for that. She expresses her feelings of this so we under stand and gets it into our minds.…

    • 548 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Anne Bradstreet
    • 662 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Anne Bradstreet

    The bible enlightens, “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matthew 6:19-21). Anne Bradstreet’s bases her poem upon this notion manifested as an extended metaphor. Along with the poem, the speaker’s tone is quite radical, ranging from calm (Line 1), helpless (Line 10), selfless (Line 16), and nostalgic (Lines 21-34); consequently, contradicting the entire nature of the poem. Perhaps, the speaker is trying to express an idea of complete devotion to God and detachment of material possessions, whilst her own lines give out the nature of flawed human beings. Anne Bradstreet was a puritan, the majority of her poems have themes that reference the relationship with God and how imperative it is to live our lives purely and as instruments at His disposal. In this poem, the speaker struggles with this whole perception. Revealing that human nature cannot be set aside. A man is an animal and it is his nature to follow his instincts and desires. Which…

    • 662 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    The Flesh And The Spirit Analysis
    • 1393 Words
    • 6 Pages

    The Flesh And The Spirit Analysis

    Anne Bradstreet’s poem “the Flesh and the Spirit” presents through the personified speakers of Flesh and Spirit two different way to live life. Flesh argues that one should focus on surviving and thriving in the physical world, while Spirit argues that one should strive to achieve spiritual purity. These two arguments are not presented with equal effectiveness, because Flesh, or the body, is presented as intrinsically inferior to Spirit. The format of the poem and the use of war imagery in the poem demonstrate how Flesh’s view of life is inferior to the Spirit’s view of life, because Flesh only encages one in immoral concerns. One must overcome and transcended the Flesh in order to find true spiritual fulfillment.…

    • 1393 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Achieving a Stronger Faith Through Sacrifice and Adversity
    • 721 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Achieving a Stronger Faith Through Sacrifice and Adversity

    Puritanism emphasizes that misfortune is part of spiritual growth as it allows perceptions to evolve along with the deeper understandings of the soul. In her poem “Upon the Burning of Our House,” Anne Bradstreet focuses on how the incident of the fire burning allows the speaker to acknowledge what really matters to her: her faith in God. The speaker relies on her faith in God in order to overcome the moment of seeing her home being consumed by flames. She views this moment of adversity as a means to gain a closer proximity to God through her faith: “I, starting up, the light did spye, And to my God my heart did cry To strengthen my in my distress And not to leave me succorless” (Bradstreet 105-106). The speaker derives a source of strength and comfort from her faith as she realizes that the burning of the house is part of God’s test for her. She acknowledges the need to keep her faith strong in the face of adversity in order to become stronger in…

    • 721 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Anne Bradstreet's "Here Follows Some Verses upon the Burning of Our House"
    • 613 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Anne Bradstreet's "Here Follows Some Verses upon the Burning of Our House"

    Anne Bradstreet's "Here Follows Some Verses upon the Burning of Our House" is a perfect example of Puritan writing. Her faith and values are made apparent within the first ten lines of the poem. The poem is entirely about Anne's thoughts as she watches her house burn. She makes the readers feel as though they are witnessing their own possessions and houses catch fire. Anne rhymes every couple of lines. This affects the way the poem flows and it allows the reader to process the two rhyming lines together before going on to the next couple. Furthermore, Anne is very conscious of her word choice and uses words with very strong connotations. Words such as fire, ashes and ruin are all used to show the severity of the damage. All of her possessions are destroyed. However, she contrasts those words with words like hope, treasure and love. While the first group of words is used to describe her material possessions, the second group describes her faith and relationship with God. It is clear that God and salvation are Anne's first priorities.…

    • 613 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    The Prologue Anne Bradstreet Analysis
    • 438 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The Prologue Anne Bradstreet Analysis

    She feels that even if she did write something amazing, men would say she copied it and didn’t produce it herself or that it was just dumb luck. Bradstreet is well aware of what her expected role in society is and how a Puritan woman is expected to behave; however, she battled the desire to use her talents to produce great works that would be appreciated and acknowledged. Bradstreet seeks to defend the roles of women and show that women can do what men can do and do it well and that women can think for themselves and have an identity apart from their…

    • 438 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More

Related Topics