Analysis Of The Poem ' Contemplations ' By Anne Bradstreet

“How excellent is he that dwells on high? Whose power and beauty by his works we know. Sure he is goodness, wisdom, glory, light, that hath this under world so richly dight.” This is a quote I chose from Anne Bradstreet’s “Contemplations.” I chose this, because I think it clearly shows Anne Bradstreet’s concept of God. Anne Bradstreet shows in “Contemplations” that God has created a beautiful earth, and she adores God for making earth so beautiful and just a glimpse of heaven. Bradstreet, a Puritan, refers to scriptural references in her poetry such as in “Contemplations” she refers to Adam and Eve. Bradstreet also shows her extreme amount of faith in Gods’ will in “On My Dear Grandchild Simon Bradstreet.” Bradstreet saying in this poem that

In line 6 the writer gives us an image in the phrase the snake slides away. Here the writer describes the wonderful movement of a snake that can make you carious to know how it is created. Furthermore in the same line the speaker give us a simile when she describes the jumping of a fish like a little lily which is “type of plant that grows from a bulb and that has large white or coloured flowers”.( Oxford dictionary 2006)The writer also gives us another great image of nature :The gold finches sing from the unreachable top of the tree . Here unreachable top of the tree is connected to the first line of the poem where there are things you can’t reach even if you want to like the gold finches who sing from a far place. In line 7 the writer invites us to look at nature by saying I look and then saying morning to night where she means she looks at nature all day long without feeling bored or done with looking.

Explain (tell me what image the poem brings to mind)She begins by describing the "death of winter's leaves".

Anne Bradstreet was a poet, who explored many different puritanical Christian ideologies in her work. In her poem, “Contemplations,” Bradstreet makes many allusions, which range from biblical stories to Greek mythology figures. Ultimately, however, Bradstreet suggests that man can be vain and sinful, never learning from the past, getting too attached to the world in which they live, taking it for granted, though it is short, or taking the time to get closer to God, and looking to the afterlife.

The first three lines create a quiet yet peaceful tone. It is almost like how any spring day begins: with the sun rising and nature and its inhabitants awaken. This may be musically represented by slow tempo and long duration notes. The second part of the poem is specifically from Line 4 to 10. This section of the poem gives more life to the poem and increases the motion of what someone can imagine happening.

Anne Bradstreet, a well-educated woman, strong in her Puritan beliefs, captured her thoughts by writing poetry, which included works such as “Contemplations” which was preceded by “The Prologue”. Written in the mid 1600’s as the colonies were beginning to form, Bradstreet’s poem included themes of religion, nature, and family. Although she claims to have written them without the intent of publication, a collection of her poetry was printed in 1650. She identifies her struggles with faith, yet writes from the view of a faithful woman who recognizes the superior role of men in her society. Although appearing to be modest and undermining her talents, it seems evident that Bradstreet was, in reality, confident that as a well educated women she was capable of writing just as well as a man. Although it is claimed that Anne Bradstreet did not intend for her writing to be published, her poetry utilizes a feminist tone and theme of higher education conveying her hidden desires to prove herself as a female author.

An example of beauty is seen through the depiction of Amber Rooms and the mirror halls; the representation of this beauty evokes the reader to enable an understanding of James comparison with something of true beauty compared to something plain and lifeless. An example of a fragile resemblance to life is an innocent, vulnerable plant such as the Japanese maple, needs beauty in order for the plant to flourish. James reflects on a vulnerable plant in his poem ‘so much sweet beauty as when fine rain falls on that small tree’. James expresses his chemotherapy battle through words, which becomes a key element in creating emotion for the poem. An example is in the forth stanza ’come a autumn and its leaves will turn to flame, what must I do’, this small extract from the poem builds a relationship with his chemotherapy and a tree given to him by his daughter, the tree resembles life and the element flourishing over time through struggle or neglect and even resemble success. The tree can be referred to as a reflection of James’ life where he had struggles, might have neglected people close to him, but most of all there was success under all the struggles he

In Anne Bradstreet’s poems she describes her husband’s love for her by using comparisons of money and gold and again puts herself as the less worthy one of the pair as she does with her parents. Bradstreet feels she will never be able to repay her husband for his love and further goes on in her poem “Another” (239), expressing her desires to be with him and not leave his side until they are divided by death. This particular poem demonstrated not only her true love for her husband, but also demonstrated how even the love she had for her husband was all built upon their beliefs of God. Even though, it is very hard to find individuals who hold their religious beliefs as closely as the Puritans did, there are still couples who display this same marital bond in both their private homes and in Church. This shows that even after all this time has passed, there are still people who blend their

Anne Bradstreet’s poem “An Author to Her Poem” is about her child metaphorically. She has a plethora of doubts about her writing. Throughout her writing, she tells us how she feels through her use of the term “child” in reference to her writing. It starts off with her addressing her book as her own child. The child is being born and cared for.

Anna Bradstreet grows up in a healthy family. She was the daughter of Thomas Dudley who is the manager of the country estate of the Puritan Earl of Lincoln. Anna Bradstreet got married at the age of 16 to the young Simon Bradstreet who was working with Anna father. Anna Bradstreet never went to school but her father always taught her and gave her an education. It that time many women didn’t have an education. Anna considers one of the best and most important American poets. When Bradstreet was a little girl, she writes poems to honor and please her father. After she got married, she kept writing and it marriage didn’t stop her. Her brother in law, John Woodbridge, pastor of the Andover Church, brought with him to London a manuscripts collection of her poetry in 1650. It was her first book, The Tenth Muse was the first published volume of poems written by an American resident and it was widely read. Anne Bradstreet was a very religious and Godly woman. Anne Bradstreet always tried to live life in a perfect way. Anne Bradstreet was a woman of God and she always wrote about her faith in her poetry. She always talked about the Puritan and their believes and views on salvation and reclamation in her poetry. Anna seems to believe that God has punished her through her sicknesses. The Puritans believed suffering was God’s plan of preparing the soul and heart for accepting his mercy

The opening lines of the poem show how strong her feelings are for her husband. Bradstreet shows this by the use of a great example of a paradox, “if two were one, then surely we.” This shows that the magnitude of her love and affection is so deep that she’s comparing two beings as one. She praises her love for her husband so much

Alasia McDonald Dana Phillips ENGL 238 October 13, 2014 Anne Bradstreet’s “Contemplations” In Anne Bradstreet’s poem, “Contemplations,” Bradstreet shares her thoughts regarding nature and Heaven from her Puritan point of view. Nature, she believes, is a miracle in itself that God created, with many of Earth’s elements appearing to be grander than humans. This creates a complication with her Puritan upbringing which has taught her that man is more fortunate than nature.

Puritan literature captures not only their beliefs as a religion, but their beliefs as individuals. All Puritan literature is utilitarian, meaning it is useful, purposeful, and reflecting a non-ornate style of writing. One of the most prominent of early English poets was Anne Bradstreet. Her poems reflect the utilitarian style, but do so in a way that is entirely unique to herself and her emotions. Anne Bradstreet opens the bridge between her faith and her personal experiences in her poetry. In her poems “Upon the Burning of Our House” and “In Reference to Her Children” she reflects utilitarianism by recounting the conflicts between her love of her worldly things and her devotion to God’s eternity.

Anne Bradstreet was not the typical Puritan author. She wrote sweet and loving poems that greatly contrasted from other writers of her time. She did not write the ever so popular sermons that told people that they were going to hell and there was nothing they could do about it. Bradstreet was a rarity in Puritan times, she was a very educated woman that worked on something other than being a woman in the household. She was one of a kind and the beginning of an era. Using literary criticism when reading Anne Bradstreet’s poems adds a deeper understanding of her character and difficulties in life.