Anne Bradstreet's Poem Verses Upon The Burning Of Our House

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’s Bradstreet’s greatest influence on her writings was religion. As a child she was brought up as puritan therefore she has puritan beliefs that was showed in her poems. However, In some of her writings it seems she was struggled with her belief in God. Just like Phillis Wheatley, Anne Bradstreet used a literal device called inversions and also used many religious references. In Anne’s Bradstreet’s poem “Here Follow Some Verses upon the Burning of out House, July 10TH, 1666” Anne Says “It was His Own, it was not mine, Far be it that I should Repine.” (122). Here she was making references to her God and realizes that her stuff that was lost in the fire was not

“To know that nothing hurts the godly, is a matter of comfort; but to be assured that all things which fall out shall cooperate for their good, that their crosses shall be turned into blessings, that showers of affliction water the withering root of their grace and make it flourish more; this may fill their hearts with joy till they run over.” In this quote, Thomas Watson explains to the people that everything happens for a reason and that a person should be satisfied with that reason. “Upon the Burning of Our House” by Anne Bradstreet, expresses a woman’s emotional state of mind during the burning of her house and the fate she has in God. The story “Devil and Tom Walker” by Washington Irving, is about an unhappy married man that makes a pact with the devil that he eventually regrets. In Ben Franklin’s autobiography, it states Franklin’s list of the thirteen virtues and his weekly plan he had to accomplish them.

Anne Bradstreet's poem, To My Dear and Loving Husband, shows her profound love and undying affection for her husband. For a Puritan woman who is supposed to be reserved, Bradstreet makes it her obligation to enlighten her husband of her devotion. She conveys this message through her figurative language and declarative tone by using imagery, repetition, and paradoxes.

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

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.

She thinks of it that God himself burned her stuff. “That laid my goods now in the dust.” She no longer had a table to eat at or a roof over her head. Everything has been taken away by the flames and smoke. All she can think about is god and how he took away the things she had. She is praying to God to give some things back and to not leave her with nothing at all. Bradstreet's attitude changes from the beginning of the poem to end. She goes from feeling depressed and sad to being optimistic on her house burning down. She believes that god has control over her house and everything in it,

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.

Traumatic events draw out everyone’s sense of humanity. When an individual is personally affected by a misfortunate event, everyone is able to see raw human emotion. Their initial reactions are as honest as anyone will ever be. In Anne Bradstreet’s “Here Follows Some Versus upon the Burning of Our House” the reader is exposed to a much more relatable puritan. Bradstreet is able to show the humanity within her rigid religion. Through experiencing the burning of her house Bradstreet is able to display raw human emotion and honest reactions. This display assists her plain style writing into making Puritanism much more applicable.

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

Puritans felt that living for God was their very purpose for being present in this life. Their destination has been marked, and the time at which they shall depart from earth is already set. Their actions control the level of grace and mercy that God will bestow upon them. As faithful Puritans they must maintain a righteous bearing to insure that God does not open the floodgates of wrath on them or their family. Two Puritan authors illustrated this very perception of life in their own sentiment.

During the 1600’s, Puritans displayed their presumption towards God by portraying their willingness to sacrifice all. First of all, Puritans traveled from their home country to come to the New World for a better life for themselves and their family. In order for them to survive in an unknown land, they put their faith in God to guide them through the everyday situations and hard times. In addition, the Puritans sacrificed materialistic objects which had sentimental feelings, in order to receive better in heaven. As matter of fact, in Anne Bradstreet, a Puritan poet, work Upon the Burning of Our House, she expressed the possessions she gave up for God, even through all the struggles she faced from the voyage. According to her poem, it is stated that her house, which symbolized her life was burnt down by God because it was believed that everything belonged to God. Although she felt upset, her faith in God didn’t change. In fact, she said goodbye to her house and believed that there was house built in Heaven by the “might architect”. Even though her “pleasant things” were turned into ashes, she still thanked God who made it and believed that God has the right to take away things. It can be concluded that she was aware that her possessions belong to God because she states “It was His own, it was not mine…” As shown above, not was she only mindful of what belonged to God, but also the idea of sacrifice. Since her poem stated “Here stood that trunk, and there that chest, There lay that store I counted best”, it was believed that Anne Bradstreet sacrificed her house and memories. The previous quote demonstrates how she notices the memories that is stored in the trunk. By analyzing Bradstreet's’ work, it can be stated that Puritans believed that God played a major role in their life

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.