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

Rowlandson faith was put to the test during her captivity, but it was what saved her life because she entertained a constant reverence and appreciation for God. This is first shown on page 72 when she says, “It is not my tongue, or pen can express the sorrows of my heart and bitterness of my spirit that I had at this departure: but God was with me, in a wonderfull manner, carrying me along and bearing up my spirit, that it did not quite fail.” She began her terrible journey as an Indian captive with the faith that God would pull her through the hardship and it was exactly those thoughts that did it. Throughout her trails she continued to observe the Sabbath, a small feat, but it helped to add some continuity to her rather unstable setting.

God is happy and generous when he is kind like in Bradstreet’s poem “To My Dear and Loving Husband”. Once her and her husband have passed on she hoped that “The heavens reward thee manifold, I pray”(Bradstreet 10). She wanted God to give them a place in heaven in which they could celebrate their love forever. With God being so kind he was also generous to some. Anne Bradstreet hoped that he would bestow this kindness upon her when she

In Anne Bradstreet’s poem, “Upon the Burning of Our House”, it teaches the audience that even though bad things happen, God will always be there for a person in the long run. Bradstreet was feeling emotional about her house being up in flames, therefore she prays to God to help her out. After a couple minutes Bradstreet realizes that it was God’s intention to create this fire. She came to the conclusion that what she had in her possession was not hers to begin with, it was God’s. Moreover, her real home is heaven. Bradstreet titles the poem, “Upon the Burning of our

On the other hand, Rowlandon’s narrative is even richer than Jacob’s with religious tendency and Biblical quotes. Rowlandson’s narrative has Christian references at least once in almost every paragraph. Unlike Jacobs who’s main purpose for her narrative is not religious but to portray the miserable life of slaves, Rowlandson’s purpose of her narrative is basically about Christian believes. She wanted to show that “redemption is both release from captivity and assurance of salvation” (Reagan). Her narrative is full of examples that show her strong believe in God during very tough situations

In the 16th and 17th century the Puritan authors wrote poems and sermons that reflected their Puritan beliefs. They did this in attempt to impact their audience. The question asked is were one too Puritan, or was one not Puritan enough? Does one author's beliefs run counter to the other, or are they almost identical with a different approach? Within the two works I have contextualized, I confirmed that both authors are Puritan although they vary in tone and tactic to declare her point.

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.

In the early 1900’s the relationship between society and God had drastically changed. After witnessing the horrors of the Great War many came to believe that it was impossible for a God to exist in such a brutal world. This type of thinking quickly spread through the United States, touching every single form of art along the way. New authors emerged all writing about the death of God and the new world. The Godless world became the norm, and one of the writers who challenged this norm was Flannery O’Connor. O’Connor was a devoted catholic author whose stories gained popularity during the southern gothic era. In her response to the post God is dead world, O’Connor focused many of her stories on religious ideas, especially the moment of grace. She believed that everyone would have a chance at this moment and that it would be their final chance at salvation. In order to spread her religious ideas O’Connor injected moments of grace into stories such as: “ A Good Man Is Hard To Find”, “ Everything That Rises Must Converge”, “Good Country People”, “ The Displaced Person”, and “ The Lame Shall Enter First”.

According to Bradstreet, humanity is on a intimate and personal relationship with a loving God. During our lifetime, God can help us attain the things needed. God can also take those things away, as a test of our faith in him. Bradstreet shows her view when she can believe in the highest faith in God, even while her house is burning down. Anne goes on to say, “Thou hast a house on high erect, Frameed by that mighty Architect, WIth glory richly furnished, Stands permanent though this be fled. It’s purchased and paid for too. By him who hath enough to do. A price so vast as is unknown , Yet by his gift is made thine own; There’s wealth enough, I need no more.” (lines 44-51). This is significant, because though she has last everything in the fire , she is grateful that God allowed her to have such

Mary Rowlandson’s memoir The Sovereignty and Goodness of God was indeed a compelling, thorough and praise worthy piece of literature. Rowlandson, not only recollected a chapter of her life, she delivered a solid visual of the circumstances during Metacom’s War. Rowlandson being a minister’s wife, a Puritan and pious women, gives us her journey with the Indians. Without any hesitation she narrates the journey she experienced and in the following essay, I will be discussing portions of her journey, and the significance of religion in her life.

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

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’s first collections of poems are titled “The Tenth Muse” referring to the mythological Greek goddesses who inspires mortals in specific art. It is clear to see that Anne's faith remained strong during her hardships, and so was her love for children and her husband. A Puritan in thought and lifestyle but also a woman, her

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.

However, the spiritual being was born from God, which is evident because the poet is a Puritan; therefore, religion contributes immensely to her demeanor and actions she makes. While the flesh solely admires “sinful possessions” (Bradstreet 192) and has a zeal for worldly pleasures, the spirit claimed that her honors and “ambitions lie above” (Bradstreet 192) with God. The spiritual being knows that worldly objects and will not earn her way into Heaven, because God already has a plan for her in regards to predestination, and no amount of material goods will allow her to be a true model of God’s works. Bradstreet also conveys the central idea that religion is far more powerful than any material object, because the flesh is acquisitive and solely desires worldly, tangible temptations while the spiritual being believes that she has unseen riches that await her in Heaven. This is made evident when the author stated “my garments are not silk nor gold…but royal robed I shall have on…the city where I hope to dwell” (Bradstreet

Puritans traditionally held strong views on their religious beliefs and the concept of weaned affections was an especially vital tenet of Puritanism. The doctrine of weaned affections essentially states that Puritans must relinquish their ties to earthly possessions in favor of maintaining spirituality as a priority. Although Puritans learned from infancy about “the importance of renouncing earthly nourishment and affection in favor of ‘spiritual milk’”, (“Weaned Affections”) many Puritans may still have had a difficult time with mastering this spiritual ideal. In “Verses upon the Burning of our House, July 10th, 1666,” Bradstreet depicts how the loss of her home is initially challenging for her to endure through her reminiscing of how she will miss her physical possessions and how her home enabled her to fulfill her duties as a wife and mother. Although this can be viewed as an immensely human response to such a devastating loss, Bradstreet is quick to remind herself, and readers, that the home and its contents truly only belonged to God and that she would do better to consider God’s kingdom over the rubble of her old home on Earth. In Anne Bradstreet’s poem “Verses on the Burning of our House,” the speaker discusses her attempt to reconcile the loss of her earthly possessions with religious tenets and, in doing so, highlights the struggle of Puritans to maintain the religious ideal of valuing only spiritual worth, as depicted through the concept of weaned affections.