Subjects:
understanding, ideas and especially her writing abilities. She was extremely talented in
using literary techniques to convey messages through her works. This is especially true in
three of her poems, “To My Dear and Loving Husband,” “Upon the Burning of Our
House,” and “In Reference to Her Children, 23 June 1659.”
Through her poem, “To My Dear and Loving Husband,” the reader is clearly able
to understand the strong love Bradstreet has for her husband. She shows her devotion to
him in a smooth manner through imagery. An example of this is presented in lines 5-7.
She writes, “I prize my love more than whole mines of gold or all the riches that the East
doth hold. My love is such that rivers cannot quench…” In other words, she is saying that
the love she has for her husband means more to her than anything else the world has to
offer. In line 12 she writes, “Then when we live no more, we may live ever.” She is
speaking of an eternal love that will continue between them well after they pass
. . .
her life.
Her poem, “In Reference to Her Children, 23 June 1659,” was not a subtle in the
way she conveyed her feelings.
Alas, My birds you wisdom want,
Of perils you are ignorant;
Oft times in grass, on trees, in flight,
Sore accidents on you may light. Not many poets
are successful in doing this. She was able to write in a way that
the reader felt what she was feeling, whether it was joy, sadness or fear. She expresses
it in a manner to warn her children of the perils of life. She also expresses the dangers of the world from a bird’s point of
view. I believe that when the words in a poem can touch a reader’s
heart, the poet has skills that many do not possess. Her fear of the fire is expressed in lines 5 and 6
where she writes, “I awakened with thund’ring noise and piteous shrieks of a dreadful
voice. She uses a flock of birds to represent her family.
O to your safety have an eye,
So happy may you live and die. She does a magnificent job
conveying her feelings in this poem. Bradstreet seems almost frantic in lines 60-66
when she is speaking to her children about the dangers of the world.
She chooses certain words and entwines them in such a way as to not only touch the heart
of her husband, but the hearts of the readers as well.
In Bradstreet’s poem, “Upon the Burning of Our House,” she shows the tragedy
of having a fire devastate her home.
Essay's Topics
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