Ben Jonson and Anne Bradstreet

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.