ANALYSIS
“Before the Birth of Her Children,” by Anne Bradstreet tells of mothers’ maternal fears that are accompanied by love. Bradstreet makes her writing personable for the reader by reminding them of their mother’s love to show that a mother’s love is like no other. Though the poem embodies a mother’s love for her child, mothers’ fears reveal a dark side that takes away the comforting feeling of love and places attention on death. By using words like “irrevocable”, Bradstreet emphasizes the inevitability of death to her child, while giving the audience a sense of just how grave a mother’s fears are, as they are even thinking of how the child will cope with death. The mother-child relationship can be viewed as a symbol of its own; one that represents a one-of-a-kind love, yet also many worries. The poem characterizes mothers as valuable individuals that place their trust and legacy in the hands of their children, hoping they will prosper.
In “My Dear and Loving Husband,” Anne Bradstreet displays her love for her husband. Considering the time period, in which women did not have the rights they do in contemporary society, to be able to say “If ever man were loved by wife, then thee,” and that her husband’s love cannot be repaid, comes to show that the contemporary perception love has existed before. Bradstreet characterized her husband as a caring man, whom unlike convention, does not appear to flaunt his superiority and degrade his wife. Her husband’s characterization reaffirms that even though times were different, a man could unconditionally love his wife in the way society believes in today.
"In Memory of My Dear Grandchild Elizabeth Bradstreet," by Anne Bradstreet, is an account of Bradstreet’s loss. The author incorporates elements of nature and religion into her poem to express her thoughts about her grandchild’s death. Anne Bradstreet uses elements from