Anne Bradstreet

Anne Bradstreet’s feelings about her home represent the most material conflict. When her home burned down she wrote the poem to voice these feelings of hers. She describes the awakening to the “shrieks of dreadful voice” and going out to watch “the flame consume” her “dwelling place”. But she comforts herself with good Puritan dogma. The burning of the house is God’s doing and his doings should not be questioned. In looking over the stanzas where she

Anne Bradstreet and Edward Taylor are two of the most distinguished and fervent Puritan poets. Yet this similarity has proven to be one of the few, if not only between these two. One cannot help but find it intriguing that poets who belong to the same religious group and style would write so differently. Many of these differences are not even subtle or hidden beneath the text itself. The differences themselves hold implications and ideas that differ between each poet.

In her community she was not allowed to express these feelings of anger toward God and love toward her husband. In the poems “Oh My Dear Grandchild Simon Bradstreet, Who Died on 16 November, 1669, Being But a Month, and One Day Old” and “A Letter to Her Husband, Absent Upon Public Employment,” Bradstreet expresses her questioning of her faith. Bradstreet used literary devices to express her emotions in a discreetly.

In the line, “And to my God my heart did cry to strengthen me in my distress and not to leave me succorless,” Bradstreet shows her religious belief in divine intervention as she places her distress and trust in God and asks Him for strength (Bradstreet 96). In the line, “I blest His name that gave and took,” Bradstreet alludes to the bible verse Job 1:21 which says, “The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord” (Bradstreet 96). This shows the Puritan devotion to religion through scripture and meditation. It also shows her Puritan belief that all of her belongings belong to God whom has the power to take them away if He so pleases. The line, “Thou hast an house on high erect, framed by that mighty Architect, with glory richly furnished, stands permanent through this be fled,” shows belief in the afterlife with God in Heaven and the goal of religious life (Bradstreet 97). The line, “The world no longer let me love, my hope and treasure lies above,” also shows belief in Heaven and the belief that true happiness and treasure is with God in Heaven (Bradstreet 97). All of these lines show Anne Bradstreet’s Puritan devotion to

Anne Bradstreet is revered as America’s first female poet and the first published poet of the New World. Born in England in 1612, Anne immigrated to the New World with waves of Puritan refugees escaping Angelican and Catholic persecution (Gordon, 88). As a successful mother of 8 children and a loyal housewife, Anne embodied the ideal Puritan woman. Yet, Bradstreet defied several Puritan social codes, namely writing in a time women were considered inferior to men. It was seen as an affront to God for women to act out of their preordained social role. Women were considered weak-minded and frail, unfit to take part in the higher discussions of politics and religion. Part of the main body of Anne Bradstreet’s work is both feminine worth and

Some of the most common writing in the Puritan’s time was poetry and sermons. Two fairly famous writers from that time are Anne Bradstreet and Jonathan Edwards. Bradstreet’s poems To My Dear and Loving Husband and Upon the Burning of Our House and Edwards’ sermon Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God will be analyzed. Bradstreet and Edwards ideas within their writing show religious views and the use of figurative language have many comparisons and contrasts.

Anne Bradstreet was America's first noteworthy poet in spite of the fact that she was a woman. Both the daughter and wife of Massachusetts governors, Bradstreet suffered all of the hardships of colonial life, was a mother, and still found time to write. Her poem, "The Author to Her Book," is an example of Bradstreet's excellent use of literary techniques while expressing genuine emotion and using domestic subject matter.

The first reason why Bradstreet poetry best reflects puritans characteristics the best is, because she saw religion as a personal inner experience. Bradstreet gave personal details about her life and connects it to god. When her house burned down she said it

Anne Bradstreet is a poet of the seventeenth century who has an extremely solid Puritan voice. The Puritans were an assembly of English Protestants that formed in the sixteenth century. The Puritans wanted to purify the church by following powerful, strict religious philosophies which later on earned them the name Puritans. They assumed that they were God’s chosen people and that they are an admirable example for the rest of the world, attempting to create a model for America. Bradstreet is one of the first noteworthy poets to write English poetry in the American colonies. According to many authors that have studied and written about Bradstreet, her work represents both her Puritan and also feminine principles to a widespread audience of readers. Unlike several women of her time, Bradstreet was very well educated and she knew what she was talking about. Having her background of education, it gave her an advantage and allowed her to write about more advanced topics, however still keeping inside the guidelines of the Bible. Anne Bradstreet’s writing is that of her personal and Puritan life, when reading you are able to easily distinguish the two.

When Bradstreet loses her first grandchild, as described in her poem, “In Memory of My Dear Grandchild Elizabeth Bradstreet, Who Deceased August, 1665, Being a Year and a Half Old,” she is upset but not overwhelmingly so. She clearly loved Elizabeth, but she recognizes that the child “for a space was lent” and that God has control over her life and death (2). Bradstreet knows that the child is in a place where she will be happier and

Anne Bradstreet was a Puritan woman who wrote poems about her life. Bradstreet expressed her feelings through writing, although if she was caught, she could possibly be banished. The Puritans did not like writing or expressing feelings that did not involve God. On Sundays, the Puritans could not show love and affection to their husbands or wives because Sundays were considered Gods day. The Puritans thought if you showed any affection to anyone except god because they thought that they were being disrespectful.

During the life of Anne Bradstreet (1612-1672), the accepted lifestyle for the Puritans in the new American colonies was one of constant reverence for God and righteous living. Bradstreet, however, was not one to blindly follow the paths of others. She felt the need to question motives, morals, and even the existence of God. In her poem, “Contemplations,” we are able to see Bradstreet’s desire to understand the place of man among all of God’s other creations in this world. Bradstreet was one of the first female Puritan poets who drew inspiration for her faith from God’s creation rather than from things unseen.

In the 1600’s, Puritans living in both England and New England held their views on God rather tightly and lived their lives as good Christians. Puritans were selfless individuals who had escaped and came to America in search of religious freedom and peace. In literature during that time period, it is made very clear that everything the Puritans had accomplished or acquired was a result of God, and that they were forever in his debt. One of the great poets from this time era was Anne Bradstreet who wrote about her children, husband, and parents. Anne Bradstreet blended her domestic life with theological imagery in every poem she did, explaining that her grandchildren were merely lent to her but

With these accomplishments, she became an inspiration to countless individuals and managed to persuade many with her arguments. She repeatedly argued that females should have the ability to publish their written works and be valued for their intellectual compositions just like men were. By demonstrating to the public that she, as a woman, was capable of creating impressive literary pieces, she accomplished her goal of having her arguments be heard and her beliefs followed. However, while her discussions were controversial and powerful during the seventeenth century, it is unfortunate to say that her works would not have been as controversial today as they were during her time. Because we live in a time in which women have obtained the right to receive an education and to succeed in society, her methods would not have been inspiring to those fighting for other fundamental rights.

The poetry that Anne Bradstreet wrote addresses important themes of Puritan life. For example, the poem “Before the Birth of One of her Children” Bradstreet expresses the theme of motherhood. The