At a young age the sickly narrator in “Upon a fit of sickness”, written in the 17th century by poet Anne Bradstreet, faces the notion of inevitable death and the abruptness of life. Through Anne Bradstreet’s usage of metaphysical conceits, juxtapositions, and biblical references she depicts the short journey of mortality that people bear before the transition into eternal life.
The poem implores the narrator’s anticipation for her eventual demise and how she merely waits for life to end. She describes her wait when she entails “O bubble blast, how long can’st last? / that always art a breaking” (Lines 17,18). The bubble represents Bradstreet’s metaphysical conceit for life. The blast, or pop, of the bubble, alludes that a popped bubble is akin …show more content…
There is a repetition of “death”,”die”,”life”, and ”live” throughout the poem that brings the two notions of life and death together, as opposed to a division of the two ideas. After the Narrator reasons her fated death and the purpose, or lack thereof, of living, there is a contrast of life and death in the poem, “For what’s this but care and strife / since first we came from womb? / Our strength doth waste, our time doth haste, and then we go to th’ tomb” (Lines 13,14,15,16). These lines encompass a timeline of life presented by the narrator, that from the time what we are born from the wombs of our mothers we only waste time until the inevitable occurs where we end up in graves marked by tombs. The “womb” and “tomb” that reside in these lines is a juxtaposition between these two symbols for life and death, compares the small and feeble fetus in the womb to the skeleton that one would find in a grave. These two words contrast greatly in what they represent and the only connection would be the wasted time and strength that occurs between these two states.
Anne Bradstreet’s 17th-century poem “Upon a Fit of Sickness” reflects on the journey from the moment of birth until the inevitable moment that, as stated in the poem, we all die. Along with the metaphysical conceit that alludes that life is a bubble, the poem contains juxtapositions and repetitive usage of terms related to life and death, the poet uses the contrast complete her statement about the short journey of mortality towards the long and sure moment of when all people will transition into this state of eternal life, an afterlife that will be spent in