Upon The Burning Of Our House By Anne Bradstreet

Puritans are intense religious people, they do things in order from God to their own personal challenges, while still keeping God in their minds at all times. Anne Bradstreet is a Puritan who had just lost her house due to a fire. Her approach to this story is a calm and loveable approach. Jonathan Edwards is another Puritan but he is much more intense with informing people about God. He puts God before anyone and everything just like any other puritan would do. Edwards approach to this story is violent and brutal, he tells everyone in his story’s who are sinners that they will be held over fires by God.“ Here Follow Some Verses Upon The Burning of Our House”and “Sinner In The Hands Of An Angry God” are both very similar in some ways and different

She wrote about how traumatic the loss was for her, but to be upset over possessions was a sin to the Puritan religion. Bradstreet stated that “By Him” and “His Gift” she would be able to get through this huge loss. Who she was referring to was God, emphasizing the importance God had in the Puritan mindset and daily life. This piece was able to help historians feel the extremity that was the Puritan religion.

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.

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.

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.

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 and Jonathan Edwards were two Puritans with the same religious obligations, however, as shown in their writing, they have completely different views on how they go about respecting these obligations. Bradstreet is about being thankful for what God gave her, and to be happy with her life despite hardships which is displayed very well in her poem, “Upon the Burning of Our House” where she explains her feelings while her house was burnt to a crisp right in front of her. Meanwhile, Edwards was writing his sermon, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” and this sermon shows that he was tense almost a polar opposite when considering Bradstreet’s views on life and religion. In Bradstreet’s

Puritans are well known for their strict religion and code of ethics. There were many people who lived by them throughout the sixteen and seventeen hundreds. Because of this, the Puritan’s devotion to their religion was often expressed in their works of literature. One of these works is a sermon by Jonathan Edwards known as Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God. Another is a poem by Anne Bradstreet known as Here Follow Some Verses upon the Burning of Our House, July 10, 1666. Both Jonathan Edwards’s sermon and Anne Bradstreet’s poem express the Puritan devotion to religion through works of literature.

It was serious, plain, and to the point. They felt it needed to be practical. Religion played a huge role in the lives of Puritans. They ate, slept, and breathed this. Through each of the writings of William Bradford, Anne Bradstreet, and Jonathan Edwards readers can see the essence of Puritanism. The three principles of Puritans (God’s grace, simplicity, and divine mission) can be mirrored through each author’s works. My personal favorite author of the three is Anne Bradstreet. I am an emotional person and I admire that all of her writings are from the heart and completely relatable on every level. There is something about the way that she writes that makes you feel what she is feeling, because in some way in your own personal life there is a similar situation. In her poem “Upon the Burning of Our House” she talks about watching her house burn. Although I have not watched my house burn, I have seen things so dear to me get caught in flames so to speak. God has more than once tried to put things in perspective for me and remind me that this world is temporal and not eternal, that my focus should be on Him. I can relate with Bradstreet on the value of earthly and eternal treasures. Anne Bradstreet’s poetry spoke more than just in the colonial times. It is ever more present in today’s time and just as

Puritains were religious individuals who believed that all things would occur for one particular reason. The Puritan term was established for two groups that believed, “they should separate themselves from the “corrupt” of England.” Some of their notions were, “ God has chosen a certain few of the “elect” for salvation” , and also unlike other christians the Puritans fancy that just having faith was not enough. Jonathan Edwards, a American revivalist preacher, Congregationalist Protestant theologian. Edwards strongly held to Reformed theology (includes any system of belief that traces it's roots back to the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century) , such as the Puritans. Jonathan Edwards wrote a sermon entitled, “Sinners in the Eyes of an Angry God” ministries his sermon to his congregation on July 8, 1741 in Northampton, Massachusetts. Anne Bradstreet was another author that wrote about Puritan beliefs, Bradstreet was the first in England’s North American colonies to be published. She wrote her poem, “ Upon the Burning of our House”, on July 10, 1666.

The Puritan religion was the basis for other works such as Anne Bradstreet. "And to my God my heart did cry, to strengthen me in my distress, and not leave me succorless." This is from a poem called, "Here Follow Some Verses upon the Burning of Our House, July 10 1666." This particular piece entails the happenings of the Bradstreet homestead burning. During this difficult time Anne often speaks to God about letting go of her worldly possessions. Religion is one of the many things that helped new settlers through the beginning years of America. Another value that helped during this time was freedom.

In Anne Bradstreet’s “Upon the Burning of Our House” and Jonathan Edwards’s “ Sinners in the Hand of an Angry God” the good and evil’s of man along with how these coincide with the laws of Puritans are mentioned. Both of these texts exhibit the religious belief of the Puritans. In Anne Bradstreet’s poem a raging fire destroys the narrator’s belongings and kills her lover. Later in the text the narrator, still in grief from her loss, comes to terms with the tragic event implying that the objects that she own would all turn into dust. She believe that it was God’s will to give here these treasures and it is his right to take them away. Edwards does show that he believes in God. He does believe that said God is all powerful and he holds everyone lives in his hand. He believes that man has sin so much that they are already doomed to an eternal life of

During the height of Puritan times, Anne Bradstreet writes “Upon the Burning of Our House.” Jonathan Edwards, another writer of these times, also writes the sermon ”Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” as well. With strong connecting imagery to their listeners, both these writings portray the religious views to their way of life. As she stood in front of her once burning home, Bradstreet wrote “here stood that trunk and there that chest...under the roof no guest shall sit…”

Anne Bradstreet's poem "Here Follow Some Verses upon the Burning of Our House" shows a connection to the colonial period writing by talking about Puritan beliefs and writing style. The colonial periods writing styles were based heavily off of God and personal accounts. Anne Bradstreet was one of the most influential poets of the colonial period and paved a way for many more writers to come. Anne Bradstreet was a puritan and a poet in the 1600s and her house burnt down in 1666. In the colonial period, God was someone you were devoted to if you were puritan and anything that happened is because of your sin.

In the 1600’s, Puritans living in both England and New England held their views on God rather tightly and lived their lives as good Christians. Puritans were selfless individuals who had escaped and came to America in search of religious freedom and peace. In literature during that time period, it is made very clear that everything the Puritans had accomplished or acquired was a result of God, and that they were forever in his debt. One of the great poets from this time era was Anne Bradstreet who wrote about her children, husband, and parents. Anne Bradstreet blended her domestic life with theological imagery in every poem she did, explaining that her grandchildren were merely lent to her but