Analysis Of Verses Upon The Burning Of Our House By Anne Bradstreet

“Upon the Burning of Our House, July 10th, 1666” is one of Anne Bradstreet’s most effective poems. Part of that effectiveness comes from the poignant tension between her worldly concerns, as represented by her household furnishings and her spiritual aspirations.

In the Bible, throughout the book, minus the few mass extinctions that God causes, God is portrayed as a merciful being. Most people, therefore, perceive him to be that way as a result. However, there are some people that perceive him as a fuming, angry God, ready to cast sinners into eternal damnation in the pits of hell. One such person is Jonathan Edwards, who wrote and recited the sermon “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” to a mass of people. One person on the opposite end of this spectrum of feelings about the Catholic’s divine being is Anne Bradstreet, author of the poem “Here follow some verses upon the burning of our house, July 10, 1666.” She believes that God is a forgiving, all knowing, generous deity who is wise in his ways.

To begin, in 1609 Anne Bradstreet wrote the poem “Upon the Burning of our House”. In this poem Bradstreet depicts a woman losing her house and husband , along with other things she treasured, to fire. According to the poem, Bradstreet says, “And to my God my heart did cry/To straighten me in my distress/And not to leave me succourless.” (8-9) This evidence illuminates that Bradstreet's character has a solid relationship with God and she takes solace in the fact that he will relieve her from all of her stress. In addition, Bradstreet says “I blest His name that gave and took” (Bradstreet 14) To elucidate, the woman in the poem is secure with her belief of God. She embraces and respects God's decision to punish her, knowing that he will take care of her after her life on Earth. To add on, Bradstreet also states, “And did thy wealth on Earth abide? / Didst fix thy hope on mound’ring dust? / To arm of flesh didst make thy trust?” (38-40) To elaborate, Bradstreet is conveying this woman

I think we all can closely relate to Anne Bradstreet’s initial reaction to the burning of her house. We would mostly be concerned about our material items. We firstly, would think of all the items we lost. The possessions we had and the memories that came with them. The fact that we still have our lives would come shortly there after. It is only natural for us as humans to be worried about our material things

The 1600s may not seem like a very influential time period. However, two individuals changed that. Anne Bradstreet and Jonathan Edwards were two very influential writers to their peers. Anne Bradstreet, author of “To My Dear and Loving Husband” and “Upon The Burning of Our House”, was very clear about life and kept her religious ways. Jonathan Edwards, author of “Sinners In the Hands of an Angry God”, was a very religious man.

Upon the Burning of our House, July 10th, 1666 was written by Anne Bradstreet, America’s first published poet and a famous Puritan writer. The poem is about Bradstreet fleeing her house after she wakes up and discovers that her house has been engulfed in flames. She begins to mourn the loss of her personal items but quickly scolds herself because she believes God has created a home for her in heaven. As Bradstreet takes her mind off losing her earthly possessions, she realizes that she must dissolve her ties to the real world and instead focus on keeping a strong relationship with God. Throughout the poem Upon the Burning of our House, July 10th, 1666, Anne Bradstreet uses rhetorical devices to express that one must overcome their internal struggle with cherishing things on Earth and instead focus on dedicating themselves to serving God who will provide things far more valuable than anything in real life.

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.

By saying this, Bradstreet means that she no long puts faith in materials and treasures only her relationship with God. Bradstreet has a strong relationship with God as portrayed in the following lines, “I blest His name that gave and took, / That laid my goods now in the dust. “ (14-15). Majority of people with a poor relationship with God would curse His name for taking away their wealth and home whereas Bradstreet praised Him for not taking her life. Bradstreet uses the story of how God took away her house and husband to convince the congregation to get closer to God.

"The Author to Her Book" shows Bradstreet's feelings about the unauthorized printing of her work. She expresses her modesty about her ability to write by comparing her work to "homespun cloth" meaning that is was coarse and unrefined. Bradstreet also uses humor to express her feelings about the publication of her work without corrections, but there is still some genuine discomfort. "At thy return my blushing was not small" shows that she was a bit embarrassed about the world reading her rough drafts, but she amends her view towards the book as the poem continues. "Yet being mine own, at length affection would Thy blemishes amend…" illustrates that she truly loves her poetry, and after it is "cleaned" she takes pride in it. She show her delight in her work with the admonition "If for thy Father asked, say thou had'st none." Bradstreet wanted everyone to recognize her for the talented woman writer that she was, but requested this acknowledgment in a humble way.

In “Verses upon the Burning of our House”, Bradstreet is peacefully sleeping in her bed. She suddenly wakes up by the fire that was consuming her house. After her house was completely burned down, Bradstreet realizes that all of her possessions didn’t belong to her in the first place; they all belonged to God. On line 17, she says, “It was his

The Puritan life, although simple, demanded diligence both mentally and spiritually which put stress on even the most faithful of followers. Although the common practice entailed brushing religious struggles under the rug, few writers bravely wrote of their religious doubts and endeavors to become better Puritans. Author Anne Bradstreet shows in her work “Here Follows Some Verse upon the Burning of Our House, July 10th, 1666” that religious struggles are often met by Puritans and it takes brave souls to admit their difficult time with their religion. This poem shows a woman dealing with a religious crisis and how even though she struggles her faith still holds strong in the end. Bradstreet’s poem displays a crisis of faith in her content

She questioned the miracles written in the Bible. Bradstreet thought these miracles were made up, because she had never seen firsthand experience of a miracle. Bradstreet actually dreaded coming to the new world, until she was convinced it was the way of God. Bradstreet believed she was there, in the new world, because God wanted her to be there. Bradstreet believed God was merciful and caused suffering to lead His followers back to Him and the righteous path. Anne Bradstreet also though God was forgiving and omnipresent. In many of her writings one sees her asking God for forgiveness and mercy. Bradstreet seeking mercy from God is seen in her writing “Before the Birth of One of Her Children,” where Bradstreet writes “[t]he many faults that well you know I have Let be interred in my oblivious grave; If any worth of virtue were in me, Let that live freshly in thy memory” (120). Here Bradstreet is writing God and herself know she has flaws and has made mistakes, but Bradstreet would like to be buried with these mistakes. Anne Bradstreet does not want to be remembered by the wrong she has done in his life, and is asking God for mercy when she passes away. In these two lines Bradstreet implies if there is still a quality of righteousness left in her, God should let that quality live on if she dies. Anne Bradstreet’s

Poets often use tragedies that occur in their life to compile their works. Readers often relate to tragic works that develop into a relatable struggle and this attributes to many poets’ fame. Anne Bradstreet is an example of one of these types of writers. Her poem, Upon the Burning of Our House, July 10th, 1666, describes one of the most devastating life events that one can go through and was her claim to fame. Anne Bradstreet’s tragic life led her to a very successful career that would change the literary world for years to come.

Even though, she will not be able to repay him with money as materialistic things are not of value, Bradstreet will write about him in her poetry, to show him her gratitude and express her love for him. I feel that Bradstreet wrote her poems about her father to impress him and make sure he knew that she was doing everything she could to repay him and show him her gratefulness for life. Bradstreet never discredits her father or places any blame on him for anything happening in her life, which was true of Puritan beliefs at that time.

Bradstreet does mourn at the loss of her possessions. She described it has a flame that consumed her dwelling place. She tries to stay away from mourning and says “Yea, so it was, and so ‘twas just” “It was His own, it was not mine”(Bradstreet, 29). Bradstreet is saying that it was God’s stuff, not hers. She was trying to accept what happened in a positive way.