Ben Jonson and Anne Bradstreet
The Male Voice Vs. the Female Voice as Illustrated by Ben Jonson and Anne Bradstreet Although many writers choose the concept of love to be the subject of their poetry, they do not all approach it in the same way. Some may use a pessimistic or cynical tone while others may view love with "rosy glasses." Ben Jonson and Anne Bradstreet are two such poets who chose love as one of their many topics. Though they both write about love and to a person who at least the speaker appears to love, they do so in a decidedly different fashion. In this essay we will look at Jonson's "Song To Celia" and Bradstreet's "To My Dear and Loving Husband" and compare them on the bases of tone, sexual reference, and attitude. Jonson's "Song To Celia" is written with a very pleading tone to it. The speaker's main purpose is not to declare his love for Celia, but rather to use his love as manipulative device. He asks her several questions in the poem that plead for answer. "Why should we defer our joys?" he asks Celia. Jonson's speaker wants something from Celia and, throughout the poem, endeavors to get his wish. Though his love for Celia is inferred, it is never blatantly stated. It is easy to read this poem in two ways: the
Bradstreet clearly takes an entirely different approach to love than does Jonson. She writes this poem with all the warmth and adoration expected in poems such as these. " Bradstreet believes that love is timeless and will last forever. Both writers incorporate their ideas into their poetry and allow us as readers to analyze their intentions. Though there are several points in the poem where this desire is stated, the most unmistakable are the two questions that the speaker pose to Celia: "Why should we defer our joys?" and "Cannot we delude the eyes/ Of a few household spies?" Given that Jonson's tone is so pleading, it makes one wonder whether his love for Celia is true, or if he only cares about himself. speaker truly loves Celia and is pleading for her to grant his request, or the speaker is simply using Celia's inferred love for him to gain acquiescence from Celia. Instead of requesting some sort of symbol of her intended's love for her she writes, "Thy love is such I can no way repay/ The heavens reward thee manifold I pray. " Lines such as these make it apparent that the speaker is not working to gain anything for himself as in Jonson's poem. "To My Dear and Loving Husband" has none of the pleading qualities that "Song To Celia" was full of, but rather, the tone of this poem is assuring and convincing. One other main difference in the poetry of Ben Jonson and Anne Bradstreet can be seen when looking at the subject of time in their poetry. Because Jonson's poem has such a pleading tone, one must ask, "what is the speaker pleading for?" In the case of "Song To Celia" the speaker is clearly requesting one thing-sex. Both do, however, take an entirely different view on what love is all about. This ties in with both the pleading tone of the poem and sexual advances the speaker makes to his intended. Jonson makes several references in his poem about time and its importance.
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Acceptance Essays
