Upon The Burning Of Our House By Edward Taylor

Poems from the time of the Puritans usually were based on their religion. Anne Bradstreet and Edward Taylor both portrayed a Puritanical message in their poems. Edward did so more so than Anne. They both conveyed different types of love. Anne wrote about her husband and how much she loved him. While Edward wrote about his love for God and how he wanted God to use him for His glory.

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

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.

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.

Anne Bradstreet and Edward Taylor are two poets who are puritans. They are able to use writing and language to portray their ideas on G-d and religion. Upon the Burning of Our House, July 10th, 1666 by Bradstreet and Huswifery by Taylor are similar in the sense that G-d is always a part of their poems, whether it’s direct or through the use of complex writing. Through the use of language and metaphors, Bradstreet conveys that a connection with G-d could be strengthened through destruction while Taylor reveals that a connection can be reinforced through creation.

Anne Bradstreet was not only the first English-speaking, North American poet, but she was also the first American, woman poet to have her works published. In 1650, without her knowledge, Bradstreet’s brother-in-law had many of her poems published in a collection called The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up In America. Although these poems did not reflect what would be her best work, they did emulate what would be the greatest influence on all of her writing. Anne Bradstreet’s Puritan life was the strongest, and the most obvious influence on her work. Whether it was her reason for writing, how she wrote, or what she wrote about, Bradstreet’s poems would reflect the influence of Puritan life and doctrine.

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.

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.

In the first stanza, the writer uses many techniques to convey the feeling of loss, when he says,

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 Edward Taylor are two of the most distinguished and fervent Puritan poets. Yet this similarity has proven to be one of the few, if not only between these two. One cannot help but find it intriguing that poets who belong to the same religious group and style would write so differently. Many of these differences are not even subtle or hidden beneath the text itself. The differences themselves hold implications and ideas that differ between each poet.

In the third stanza, a lot of imagery is used. The significant ones are present in the seventh and eleventh lines. In the first line, the poet writes, "A

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.

He puts himself as an equal to some of the greatest literature artists in history before he has even began his work in earnest. He also scoffs at sinners, showing arrogance and that he is more worthy in God’s eyes then them. He also chooses himself to go on this journey, among the entire world population. And in his own

Critics have many takes on these poems as well. One author of a criticism states that he believed that the “ original” writer of the poem ( Terrence) comes off as very educated or cocky.The speaker is very witty. The poet housman creates loads of ironic distance through is pom due to the speaker’s diction that was used. Housman also utilized may rhetorical strategies to further enhance his writing such as irony. From the front cover to the last page the poem hosts a load of both verbal and dramatic irony leaving the reader on the edge for more. The writer in the poem states that he can not control faith. With this being stated, he knows that he cannot even if he tried. The next citic states that he believed the writer learned the value of consideration