Anne Bradstreet Essay, Research Paper

In the early seventeenth century the one and only thing that concerned the Puritan s was their status with God. No matter what they did it was in order to please Him. Their reverence to God was everything to them. They modeled their community as a patriarchal community. This meant that the father or husband was the head of the household, just as God was head of the church. They also believed that the leader of the community should be the leader of their church. The puritan s took the Word of God much more seriously than many other communities. They would constantly remind themselves, their neighbors, and their family if someone was not doing what he or she need to be doing.

This is evident in both Anne Bradstreet s Upon the Burning of Our House and in Mary French s A Poem Written by a Captive Damsel. In Bradstreet s Upon the Burning of Our House she rises to find that her house is burning down. She immediately begins to think about her worldly possessions. The thought of her tables, chests, and all of her personal belongings consumes her in every way. She watches as the roof that she had lived under for so long burns to the ground. Then among the chard remains of what used to be her home she realizes that these are not the things of importance. She understands that she no long has a house to live in but almost automatically says Thou has an house on high erect, Framed by that mighty Architect (312). At this very moment she realizes what is the most important thing in her life. Not the chests, the tables, or other things that she owned, but her love for God and His love for her. She goes on to say The world no longer let me love, my hope and treasure lies above (312). Here Bradstreet is giving up something that many people would never give up. She is renouncing the possessions so many people, including herself, have loved for a life with God. This shows more than anything her devotion and willingness to give up everything for God. Anna Bradstreet is an example to all people in the fact that she, without hesitating, lost everything and was not upset but was content because she knew that it was the will of God.

This theme of unselfishness is also evident in Mary French s A Poem Written by a Captive Damsel. At the very young age of sixteen French was held captive by Native Americans. French and the rest of the hostages we not allowed to worship in the way they wanted to and were apparently forced to become Catholics. According to Lauter Mary French has survived in literary history because her one hundred and four line poem to her sister, upon a captivity among Indians, was printed by Cotton Mather (470). As Lauter said French s poem is a letter to her sister. In this letter French urges her sister to turn to him, who has you made (470). Apparently French does not believe that her young sister has turn her life over to God and she takes it upon herself to show the young girl what God s love will do when she says For as the withering grass we fade, which never more appears. But if that God should you afford a longer life to live live (470). French also realizes, when she remembers the people who died in the bloody rage (471), that life is precious and cannot be taken for granted. This is one of the reasons she begs that her sister to begin a life long walk with God. French shows not only the love for her God but also the love for her sister. She does everything in her power to show her sister what glorious days the Lord has in store for her.

Like Bradstreet, French see what she has done wrong. She has never professed the Lords undying love to her sister. She feels that it is time for her to take up her duty and let her sister know what she maybe missing by not having the Lord in her life. No, French was taking for granted her earthly belongings but she was taking for granted her God by not giving other people His love. These two poems show the intensity of the love the puritan s had for God. Bradstreet, while watching her house burn to the ground, takes the time to examine herself and realize that it is God s will that her house burn. French, while being held captive by Indians, takes the time to write her sister and tell her about the Lord. This shows that the puritan s would at any time examine themselves, their family, or their neighbors.

Works Cited

Lauter, Paul. The Heath Anthology of American Literature. Houghton Mifflin Company.

Boston, Massachusetts. 1979.