Comparing Bradstreet's 'The Flesh And The Spirt'

At a first glance, the poem “The Author to Her Book”, written by Anne Bradstreet, is quite difficult to decipher. With a perplexing use of diction, Bradstreet manages to lure readers in and stimulate interest, much like puzzle. The language usages in the poem was intrinsic to the time period it was written in however, a current audience may become confused at the site of this poem and be more inclined to investigate it. After reading this particular poem numerous times, the underlying story begins to be revealed. It appears as if the author being described in the poem is unhappy with her work. The speaker’s friends on the other hand, liked it and decided to publish it so the author was forced to revise the writings and make them better. The vibe from the speaker however, is of constant disgust in their work. No matter how much they revised and edited, they were never satisfied with anything completed. To add character to her work, Bradstreet effectively uses metaphors throughout the poem to aid in her overall theme of conflicts

In The poem “The Flesh and The Spirit” author Anne Bradstreet uses: human values, personification, desires and pleasures, as key elements to portray to the reader the internal battle of man; his desires for physical satisfaction and holy redemption. I think this is significant because, it is through this specific literary work Bradstreet addresses the major issues, of mans conflict within. It is through this text I also believe that Bradstreet had not only unintentionally addressed issues important during her lifetime, but which can also be applied to the generations that will come after her passing. She in her own way broke down, what this supernatural crusade translates to in the real world. Through the next few paragraphs this paper will explain the significance of this poem’s theme “ the internal human conflict of gaining materialist pleasures versus obtaining holy deliverance”.

This line depict that her love towards her husband is very rich because she compares it with gold, and also that their love has no boundaries because she compares it with a running river. While Bradstreet implements different metaphors, Taylor implements a much longer and descriptive metaphor called conceit. The idea of conceit ensures that Taylor is able to compare his everyday words and actions to all spools and stitch required to sew together the Holy robe that will allow him to be among the selected. This is supported by the line which states that “And makes my soul thy Holy spool to bee. My conversation makes to be they reel, and reel the yarn thereon spun of thy wheel”.

Anne Bradstreet’s poems displays confliction with what she should believe in as a Puritan. In Bradstreet’s poem, “Before the Birth of One of Her

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

Anne Bradstreet Reading Questions Choose two of the following five questions and write a well-developed essay response to each. Look for ways to compare the poems that you choose to write about, and offer transitions that indicate your comparison of the works. Use MLA format to document quotes from the text. 2. How do you see Bradstreet’s Puritan beliefs regarding love illustrated in “To My Dear and Loving Husband?”

Shortly after the tragic event of losing her house and possessions, Mrs. Bradstreet surges into an internal conflict over the symbolism of the fire, and how its significance is related to God. Religious/Puritan ideology read that all events and actions are controlled by God, which is utilised to respond to the activities or feelings one is currently experiencing. Bradstreet’s insight and knowledge between God and personal significance allows the exchanges in the internal conflict, accepting development and adaptability to the predicament.

For Anne Bradstreet, the closeness of God to the soul is essential to not only understanding life, but coming to terms with devastation and loss. Bradstreet’s journey to God is best explained by Job 1:21 which says “The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.” Her belief is exemplified through her poem “Versus upon the Burning of Our House.” One of her first reactions while she is watching her home burn to the ground is look up to the sky and say “strengthen me in my distress and not leave me succorless.” Throughout the entire poem, Bradstreet constantly references how God will help her rebuild her life and strengthen her soul. During the middle of the poem, she talks about all of her lost material things like

What really spoke to me in Bradstreet's “Prologue” was being aware she was living in a society that used religious doctrine to dominate women. I definitely have to agree with you that Bradstreet was ahead of her time considering she knew she was at a disadvantage, as well as doubting the existence of God would have been a bold accusation for a man or woman. Also, I found it interesting that you mentioned Taylor's comparison to the crumb of dust being related to his occupation as a farmer. I did not consider that before, but it makes perfect sense! Finally, when Red Jacket pointed out that if the white people's God is right then why is there a debate over religion. What surprised me was that he mentioned his people did not fight over religion,

Jonathan Edwards' hellfire and brimstone in his Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God has several comparisons and contrasts with Anne Bradstreet's poems, "Upon the Burning of Our House" and "To My Dear and Loving Husband." One of the comparisons would be with the concept of Eternal Life. Both writers were Puritans, and accepted the concept of life after death. Bradstreet says in "To my Dear and Loving Husband" that she hopes "the heavens reward thee manifold, I pray...Then when we live no more, we may live ever." Saying "we may live ever" gives the reader the thought of life after death, and she is saying that she wants to live eternally with her husband. Edwards had the same idea, but in a darker sense. He insisted upon the fact that

Two different time periods, yet the same fear to self express. In a world where one is constantly forced to be silent with many things to be said. Poetry in the Puritans religion was uncalled for and unthought of particularly coming from women. Anne Bradstreet a puritan woman, as well as the first American woman to publish writings. She wrote her poems with hesitation. Bradstreet was uneasy due to the fact that women in her days weren't to be expressive of their thought or feelings. Most of her writings were among the topics of struggles being a woman, difficulty of loss, and questioning of faith. The Puritans believed that if someone slightly questioned God, they were a partaking in Satanic ideals.

The Flesh and the Spirit is a poem by Anne Bradstreet that redefines the way we perceive religion and property. It begins with two sisters, “Flesh”, and “Spirit”, who are talking on the banks of a nearby shore. You are apparently listening in on the conversation as it goes on, and have a sense of the situation at hand. Flesh begins to question Spirit and why she enjoys to meditate. Flesh, who is bent towards materialistic things, is quite confused about Spirit’s practice, as she doesn’t understand the satisfaction from partaking in it. Flesh then begins to try and convince Spirit that there is more beyond spiritualistic understandings, and that the world is full of new types of riches such as gold and silver. Spirit is not very cooperative

Anne Bradstreet is a well recognized poet because she was the first female American poet. The previous statement makes it seem as if her poems are only noteworthy due to her literary importance in history outweighing her poetic artistry. Luisa Hall in The Influence of Anne Bradstreet’s Innovative Errors explains that “the problem Bradstreet faces...is not the problem of being a woman or being the first American poet, but...fearing she has no right to speak, of fearing her voice cannot insert itself into English literary history” (23). Another writer that supports Hall’s claim is Catherine Sedgwick, “Sedgwick’s ability to champion an expansion of woman’s sphere beyond domestic settings was blunted by “deep inner restraints” that derived

In line 21 humans are described as a “flow’r” and it can easily be referred the the “sweet leaves and blossoms green” are just further descriptions of the “human flow’r.” The author says that the soul shuns this physical, human form, and yearns for its existence in heaven.

Anne Bradstreet’s poem “The Flesh and the Spirit” shows us the duality of man that her audience was having to deal with at the spiritual level. While this poem was written back in 1643 it still shows us as Christians what we have come from and how easy it would be to go back to a life of the “flesh”. This poem also goes about giving us details about what we should be striving for and what we have to look forward to if we strive toward the real or ultimate goals or rather possessions.