The Cry For God In Anne Bradstreet's Burning House

“It would be dreadful to suffer this fierceness and wrath of Almighty God one moment; but you must suffer it to all eternity,“ declares Jonathan Edwards (128), referring to being trapped in Hell, in his 1741 sermon “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”. Edwards is known for his powerful persuasion techniques, and his long sermons. He portrays God as loathing and vengeful towards anyone who is unconverted, playing on their fear. As a Puritan, he was affected by the religion that influenced many other authors of the era. Another puritan writer was a woman named Anne Bradstreet, famous for being the first notable American poet. Unlike Edwards, Bradstreet is more gentle in her writing, and enjoyed writing about her

Because her father was a studious man, Bradstreet was able to receive a good education and was well read. She enjoyed serious and religious writings and admired many of the great poets of the time, among these Sir Philip Sidney, Edmund Spenser and John Donne. In fact she admired them so much

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.

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.

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

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

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.

Using sensitive detail in writing appeals to a reader's emotions. Bradstreet creates a poem where her home was burned to the ground, which resulted in the loss of her possessions and husband. Her explanation was the fact that she put her material possessions over God as a way to warn other Puritans. In her depiction of eternal life, Bradstreet states, “The world no longer let me love/ My hope and treasures lie above” (53-54). This is regarding to the simple fact that all of her belongings are in heaven waiting for her even though she cherished them more than her religion. As for her relationship with God, she prays to him through her time of desperation by saying “ And to my God my heart did cry/ To straighten me in my distress/ And not to leave me succourless” (8-10). Even though everything was destroyed, she keeps her faith in God as all Puritans should. Through her writing she allows her readers to see an example of how to react: pray and do not turn your back on God. Her strong relationship with God gives her the ability to accept what

1. During Anne Bradstreet's piece called [Upon the Burning of Our House] Anne Bradstreet describes how she believed that it was god's will that her house was destroyed, due to her being too concerned with material/physical things. She says "Then straight I gin my heart to chide and didst thy wealth on earth abide?" which translates to her questioning whether or not she had treasured her belongings excessively. Afterwards she states "Didst fix thy hope on mouldring dust? The arm of flesh didst make thy trust?" which further expands on the fact she treasured a physical object rather than a living entity or god himself.

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, as a poet, wrote as both a Puritan woman in her time and as a woman ahead of her time. Zach Hutchins analyzed this tension in “The Wisdom of Anne Bradstreet: Eschewing Eve and Emulating Elizabeth”, and makes a primary argument that three of Bradstreet’s poems provide evidence that Bradstreet rejects the Puritan views of a woman while keeping her own personal faith. Hutchins fither his argument by declaring that readers should not view Bradstreet as a symbol of rebellion or submission, instead as a symbol of wisdom.

July 10,1616 , Anne Bradstreet wrote and published her poem "Upon The Burning of Our House", where she describes her tone in fear, deep tragedy, and depression etc.

The first major difference between these two writers is the major difference in their writing styles. Though both are undoubtedly Puritan in style they hold many differences in how they write, and what they write about. Anne Bradstreet’s writing is seen as rather basic in it’s composition and rhyme scheme. The writing is in stanzas, much like other poetry, and the rhyme is a very basic A-A B-B scheme, in “To My Dear and Loving Husband” she writes, “If ever two were one, then surely we./If ever man loved her wife, then thee;” ( lines 1-2) these opening lines illustrate the simplicity in her writing. Contrast this to the opening lines of “Sinners in the Hands of an

In 1628, Anne Bradstreet married her father’s assistant, Simon Bradstreet, upon which she began to use her husband’s surname of Bradstreet (Eberwein 161). Consequent to their nuptials, Simon Bradstreet moved into the Earl’s house to live with Anne and her family (“Anne Bradstreet”). In May of 1630, Bradstreet embarked on the Arbella for a protracted, two-month journey with her husband and parents (Gordon 3). Bradstreet encountered sickness, hunger, and squalid living conditions throughout her journey (“Anne Bradstreet”). The Arbella was designed as a merchant ship, and although larger than its counterparts, was unprepared for the voyage to the New World, “...she carried ten thousand gallons of beer but only thirty-five hundred gallons of water, which could not be kept potable for very long...” (White 105). Like Bradstreet, other passengers became ill during their journey due to the deficiency in making proper arrangements (White 104-105). Once the onerous journey ceased, the Bradstreets arrived in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, where The Bradstreets moved around until finally settling in Andover in 1642. Once living in Andover, Bradstreet and her husband had eight children between the years 1633 and 1652 . As she had many children, she had many chores as well. Bradstreet would write as her schedule would allow, mostly in between performing her domestic duties (“Anne Bradstreet”).

John Bunyan, lacking in formal schooling, was a small tinker in the English countryside. It was said that he had read no more than five books all his life. He spent much time reading Holy Bible and was called “man of one book” by later generations. As a staunch Puritan, he wrote resolutely for his belief and his Christian ideals. From the year of 1660 came his long and bitter trials. Bunyan was put into jail several times because he insisted in the pure faith. During the imprisonment he suffered a lot from his own inner warfare. All his sensitive and subtle psychological feelings were expressed by Christian’s experiences in The Pilgrim’s Progress. To some extent, therefore, this masterpiece is Bunyan’s spiritual autobiography.