an - Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools · Anne Bradstreet's father. Thomas Dudlej; was the...
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97 .,\l'INE BR,-<\DSTREET ca. 1612-1672 Anne Bradstreet's father. Thomas Dudlej; was the manager of the country estate of the Puritan earl of Lincoln, and his daughter was very much the apple of his eye. He took great care to see that she reeehoed an education su erior to that most v9J:!.~ ~,.a£ _the time. When s e was only sixteen she married the young Simon Brad- street, a recent graduate of Cambridge Untverslry, who was associated with her father fuCOnducting the affairs of the earl of Lincoln's estate. He also shared her father's Puritan beliefs. A year after the marriage her husband was appointed to assist in the preparations of the }lass<1chusetts Bs\' Compam~ and the following year the Brad- streets and the Dudlevs sailed with Winthrop's fleet. Bradstreet tells us that when she first "carne into this country" she "found a new world and new manners," at which her "heart rose" in resistance. "But after I was convinced it was the way of God, I sub- mitted [0 it and joined the church at Boston. ,. \Ve know very little of Bradstreet's daily life, except that it was a hard existence. The wilderness, Samuel Eliot Morison once observed, "made men stern and Silent, chil- dren unruly, servants Insolent." William Bradford's wife, Dorothy. staring at the bar- ren dunes 'of Cape Cod, is said to have chosen the certainty of drowrung Over the unknown life ashore. Added to the .hardShi P of daily Iiving was the fact that Bradstreet) was never very strong. She had rheumatic fever as a child and as a result suffered recurrent periods of severe fatigue; nevertheless, she risked death by childbirth eight times. Her husband was secretary to the company and later governor of the Bay Colony; he was always 'involved in the colony's diplomatic missions; and in 1661 he went to England to renegotiate the Bay Company charter with Charles II. Simon's tasks must have added to her responsibilities at home. And like anv good Puritan she Jldded to the care of daily life the examination of her copscienq~._ She tells us in One J of the "SledltatlOnf"\TItten for her children that she was troubled many times about the truth of the Scriptures, that she never saw any convincing miracles: and that she always wondered if those of which she read "were feigned." \Vhatproved to her finally that God exists was not her reading but the evidence of her own eyes. She is the first in a long line of American poets who took their consolation not from theology but from the 'wondrous works. r- as she wrote. "that I see, the vast frame of the heaven and the earth, the order of all things, night and day; summer and "inter, spring and autumn, the daily providing for this great household upon the earth, the presening and direct- ing of an to Its.proper end." When Bradstreet was a young girl she had written poems to p1ease her father. and he made much of their reading them together. After her marriage she continued writ- ing. Quite unknown to her. her brother-in-law, John \Voodbridge. pastor of ths: Andm'er church. brought WIth him te London a manuscript conecoen of her poetry and ha~lt pnnted the~1}J.Q;O. 71le Te1!~lz IUl~~~ she first 2~liS11ecG;orume-01 yoem_s\tTftten Dr a re~i4~!1l,QfJlu~~~Iaand was widely read. Reverend Ea\\;anr TaylOf;alsoa"pOetana-U\'ing in the frontier community of Westfield, Massachusetts. had a copy of the second edition of Bradstreet's poems (1678) in his library. Although she herself probably took greatest pride in her long meditative poems on the ages of humankind and on the seasons, the poems that have attracted present-day readers are the more intimate ones. which reflect her concern for her familv and home and the pleasures she took in everyday life rather than in anticipation of the life to come. The text is the l-I0rks ofAnne Bradstreet, edited by Jeannine Hensley (1967). /
Transcript of an - Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools · Anne Bradstreet's father. Thomas Dudlej; was the...
97
.,\l'INE BR,-<\DSTREETca. 1612-1672
Anne Bradstreet's father. Thomas Dudlej; was the manager of the country estate ofthe Puritan earl of Lincoln, and his daughter was very much the apple of his eye. Hetook great care to see that she reeehoed an education su erior to that most v9J:!.~~,.a£ _the time. When s e was only sixteen she married the young Simon Brad-
street, a recent graduate of Cambridge Untverslry, who was associated with her fatherfuCOnducting the affairs of the earl of Lincoln's estate. He also shared her father'sPuritan beliefs. A year after the marriage her husband was appointed to assist in thepreparations of the }lass<1chusetts Bs\' Compam~ and the following year the Brad-streets and the Dudlevs sailed with Winthrop's fleet. Bradstreet tells us that when shefirst "carne into this country" she "found a new world and new manners," at which her"heart rose" in resistance. "But after I was convinced it was the way of God, I sub-mitted [0 it and joined the church at Boston. ,.\Ve know very little of Bradstreet's daily life, except that it was a hard existence. The
wilderness, Samuel Eliot Morison once observed, "made men stern and Silent, chil-dren unruly, servants Insolent." William Bradford's wife, Dorothy. staring at the bar-ren dunes 'of Cape Cod, is said to have chosen the certainty of drowrung Over theunknown life ashore. Added to the .hardShiPof daily Iiving was the fact that Bradstreet)was never very strong. She had rheumatic fever as a child and as a result sufferedrecurrent periods of severe fatigue; nevertheless, she risked death by childbirth eighttimes. Her husband was secretary to the company and later governor of the BayColony; he was always 'involved in the colony's diplomatic missions; and in 1661 hewent to England to renegotiate the Bay Company charter with Charles II. Simon'stasks must have added to her responsibilities at home. And like anv good Puritan sheJldded to the care of daily life the examination of her copscienq~._ She tells us in One
J of the "SledltatlOnf"\TItten for her children that she was troubled many times aboutthe truth of the Scriptures, that she never saw any convincing miracles: and that shealways wondered if those of which she read "were feigned." \Vhatproved to her finallythat God exists was not her reading but the evidence of her own eyes. She is the firstin a long line of American poets who took their consolation not from theology but fromthe 'wondrous works. r- as she wrote. "that I see, the vast frame of the heaven and theearth, the order of all things, night and day; summer and "inter, spring and autumn,the daily providing for this great household upon the earth, the presening and direct-ing of an to Its.proper end."When Bradstreet was a young girl she had written poems to p1ease her father. and
he made much of their reading them together. After her marriage she continued writ-ing. Quite unknown to her. her brother-in-law, John \Voodbridge. pastor of ths:Andm'er church. brought WIth him te London a manuscript conecoen of her poetryand ha~lt pnnted the~1}J.Q;O.71le Te1!~lzIUl~~~ • •she first 2~liS11ecG;orume-01yoem_s\tTftten Dr a re~i4~!1l,QfJlu~~~Iaand was widely read. Reverend Ea\\;anrTaylOf;alsoa"pOetana-U\'ing in the frontier community of Westfield, Massachusetts.had a copy of the second edition of Bradstreet's poems (1678) in his library. Althoughshe herself probably took greatest pride in her long meditative poems on the ages ofhumankind and on the seasons, the poems that have attracted present-day readers arethe more intimate ones. which reflect her concern for her familv and home and thepleasures she took in everyday life rather than in anticipation of the life to come.The text is the l-I0rks ofAnne Bradstreet, edited by Jeannine Hensley (1967).
/
Name Period, _
To My Dear and Loving Husband
If ever two were one, then surely we.If ever man were loved by wife, then thee;If ever wife was happy in a man,Compare with me, ye women, if you can.I prize thy love more than whole mines of goldOr all the riches that the East doth hold.My love is such that rivers cannot quench,Nor ought but love from thee, give recompense.Thy love is such I can no way repay,The heavens reward thee manifold, I pray.Then while we live, in love let's so persevereThat when we live no more, we may live ever.
1. Describe the poem's tone. Is it what you'd expect from a seventeenth-century Puritan?Why or why not?
2. Consider whether Bradstreet's devotion is directed more toward her husband here onearth or toward the eternal rewards of heaven.
3. What is the paradox in the final line? How is it resolved?
In Memory of My Dear Grandchild Elizabeth Bradstreet, WhoDeceased August, 1665, Being a Year and a Half Old
I
Farewell dear babe, my heart's too much content,Farewell sweet babe, the pleasure of mine eye,
Farewell fair Hower that for a space was lent,
Then ta'en away unto eternity.
Blest babe, why should I once bewail thy fate,Or sigh thy days so soon were terminate,
Sith I thou art settled in an everlasting state.
2
By nature trees do rot when they are grown,
And plums and apples thoroughly ripe do fall,And com and gJ;ass are in their season mown,
And time brings down what is both strong and tall.But plants new set.to he eradicate,And buds new blown to have so short a date,
Is by His hand alone that guides nature and fate.
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1678
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