...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...
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...“To my Dear and loving Husband” Poetry Explication The poem “To my Dear and loving Husband” by Anne Bradstreet is a heart felt expression of a wife’s marital unconditional love and commitment to her husband. Indirectly, it is also about a puritan woman, who is supposed to be reserved, conveying a message of ever-lasting love and devotion to her husband through vivid imagery and emotions. By reading the poem it seems to be directed to an audience consisting of people who are in love and a person who cherishes their partner’s love. “To my Dear and loving Husband” is classified as a lyrical poem written in couplet form which means in each of the two adjacent lines, it is poetry that rhymes. For example: in the beginning, “If ever two were one, then surely we, If ever man were lov’d by wife, then thee;” (1-2) each line ends with a rhyme – we and thee. “To my Dear and loving Husband” is written in iambic pentameter that makes you read the poem with an obvious rhythm. The couplet form is AABBCCDD and so on making the lines come in rhyming pairs. The poem supports the rhythm with the masculine rhymes using the repetition in the final sounds in every last syllable. The poem consists of monosyllabic words such as we, thee, man, can, gold, hold, and pray. When reading the poem out loud the reader will notice there are many open vowel sounds and soft consonants, which adds to the sincere tone and gives the poem a sense of overall simple, unaffected speech. The beginning...
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...Compare and Contrast Essay: “Story of an Hour” and “To My Dear and Loving Husband” Thesis: In the short story, “Story of an Hour” by Mary Chopin and the poem “To my Dear and Loving Husband”, by Anne Bradstreet both authors reveal how each of their female characters feel about their husband and how each feelings are expressed differently I. Both women are treated differently by their husbands. A. In the “Story of an Hour”, the central character, Louise Mallard, feels locked in her marriage. B. In “To My Dear and Loving Husband”, the author Anne feels safe and secure in her marriage. II. Both women express different feelings about their mates. A. In “Story of an Hour”, Louise feels that it is not enough that her husband loves her. B. In “To My Dear and Loving Husband”, Anne values her relationship with her husband more than anything. III. Both authors use literary concepts to make their writings easier to understand. A. In “Story of an Hour”, the line free, free, free tells us that Louise feels free after learning of her husband’s death. B. In “To My Dear and Loving Husband”, the line I prize thy love more than mines of gold tells us that she values their love very much. A WOMAN’S LOVE FOR A MAN As every woman is an individual with distinct characteristics so too will her feelings towards her husband are uniquely expressed. There are husbands who try to control their wives so much that the woman cannot freely follow does their own will. Then there are...
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...Essay #1 In Ann Bradstreet’s writings, it is clear that she is highly intelligent and well educated for the women of her time, with a large family library. Her writings are about what is around her: her religion, history, family, political and puritanical views. She had a difficult life with illness, hunger, and the loss of her child, but still she wrote with wit, love, and a sense of community. Religion and God’s plan play a crucial role in many of her writings. When she wrote, Upon the Burning of Our House, a sad, but forgiving poem, “And, when I could no longer look, I blest His name that gave and took,” she acknowledges her belief of God’s involvement in the fire, but doesn’t seem angry by it. “Thou hast an house on high erect, Fram’d by that mighty Architect…Stands permanent, though this be fled.” Anne Bradford was a very spiritual woman and believes God has a home for her in heaven and this home on earth is only temporary. To go to heaven would be “A prize so vast as is unknown” and “There’s wealth enough, I need no more.” She writes “My hope and treasure lies above,” evidences heaven is the ultimate destination. Anne Bradford seemed to be a very loving, respectful, and devoted wife to her husband Simon. In To My Dear and Loving Husband, she writes, “If ever two were one, then surely we…I prize thy love more than whole mines of gold…My love is such that rivers cannot quench…” The passion she feels for her husband truly shines in this poem. She may be considered one of...
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...ANNE BRADSTREET 1. What does Bradstreet’s poetry reveal about Puritan ideas of the proper role of women? Note how, in writing her poetry, she both rejects and accepts (Prologue stanza 7) John Winthrop’s standards for women as he revealed them – first, in describing Mrs. Hopkins’s failure to attend “to such things as belong to women” and, second, in his “Speech to the General Court” (“The Woman’s own choice”). The puritans believed that women should not have the right to voice their opinion. The husbands were the ones who made the decisions in the household and not the women. The women played the role of being home doing house work and taking care of the kids. In John Winthrop’s writing, he says, “he is her lord, and she is to be subject to him” (Winthrop 76). Therefore, men are the dominant where the...
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