The poetry of Anne Bradstreet is some of the most personal and dramatic that I have ever read. She used her life experiences to create works of art. Many of her poems showed negative moments in her life, but she knew how to express those feelings without being too depressing. After readings pieces from other writers, I have found that Bradstreet’s writing is easier to read because it relates to everyday life. Reading her poetry also helped me bring the past to the present. History is such a hard subject to really understand and enjoy, but her stories made me relate history to the modern day world.
It is also written in an easy to follow format. The main reason I enjoyed reading Bradstreet was that it was interesting and kept my attention throughout each and every piece. The first poem I read of her was The Flesh and the Spirit. I viewed this poem as a discussion between two sisters. One sister, Flesh, was very materialistic and viewed the concept of happiness as having silver, gold, pearls, and other worldly possessions. Flesh never had a spiritual part to her life.
On the other hand, Spirit was very religious and “spiritual.” She spent her life trying to serve the Lord. I believe she felt as though the purpose of her life was to prepare her for her eternal days in Heaven. The discussion I saw between the two was a debate of beliefs. They were both trying to convey their feelings about their outlook on life to the other. Flesh was trying to convince Spirit that worldly possessions are more important than spirituality.
The Essay on Robert FrostHis Life and poems
Have you ever read a poem that deals with a broad aspect of life? Robert Frost wrote about this in his poem. ?The Road Not Taken.? Frost uses descriptions of nature in a New England setting to open the readers? eyes to the endless possibilities of what would have happened if they did something different. Through analysis of the poem and its critiques, one can understand what kind of poet and ...
And Spirit argued the other way. This poem gave me a different aspect on spirituality and materialism. Before the Birth of One of Her Children was another one of Bradstreet’s poems. This one was a discussion between Bradstreet and her unborn child. This, I believe, is one of the most intimate conversations she has.
It was a personal account of the moments just before she delivered. I believe she is telling her unborn baby that she may not survive the birthing process, but she makes it very clear that she doesn’t want her child to grieve her death but celebrate her life. Another very personal poem and conversation she wrote is called To My Dear and Loving Husband. This was a very description account of her marriage and relationship with her husband. In this poem is it obvious that the two were in love and had a wonderful life together.
One line in particular goes directly back to The Flesh and the Spirit. “I prize thy love more than whole mines of gold or all the riches that the East doth hold.” This shows her spiritual side. She is proclaiming that the relationship that God has given her with her husband means more to her than anything material thing the Earth could hold. In my point of view, Bradstreet uses each poem to build another one. Not only does she use her own experiences but she using other poetry as well. This was another concept of her poetry that I really enjoyed.
There were also two poems about the deaths of her grandchildren: In Memory of My Dear Grandchild Elizabeth Bradstreet and On My Dear Simon Bradstreet. Both of these poems describe the pain and distress of losing a child. But they also put a positive aspect on the situation. In the first poem, one line in particular stands out. “By nature trees do rot when they are grown and plums and apples thoroughly rip do fall… .” This line helps to explain that even though it is hard to deal with these deaths, it was their time to be with God.
And because they died they don’t have suffer growing old and aging. Upon the Burning of Our House was a very personal and dramatic poem. When reading this poem I felt as though she grieved in a very mellow way. She was not hysterical, which may cause many to believe that she was not grieving at all. But I find that almost impossible. How could anyone not be sad and grief stricken if they lost everything they owned.
The Essay on The Life And Poetry Of Amiri Baraka
March 9, 2001 The Life and Poetry of Amiri Baraka "To understand that you are black in a society where black is an extreme liability is one thing, but to understand that it is the society that is lacking and impossibly deformed, and not yourself, isolates you even more" (About 3). This is a direct quote from Baraka, and it outlines his beliefs well. History and society have always influenced Amiri ...
“When the ruins oft I past my sorrowing eyes aside did cast, and here and there the places spy where oft I sat and long did lie.” This line emphasizes my point that she had to be grieving in some way. She say directly that she had sorrowing eyes as she recalled where she used to play and sleep. The last poem that I read by Anne Bradstreet was entitled As Weary Pilgrim. This poem uses descriptive details to describe the life of a pilgrim, or I see it, a typical hard worker. It continues to talk about this person as they are sleeping. While some may see it as simply resting at the end of a hard day, I see it as resting at the end of a hard life.
I believe this pilgrim has completely his life and is now resting eternally. One of the reasons I see it as dying and going to Heaven is because of one line in particular. “This body shall in silence sleep, mine eyes no more shall ever weep, no fainting fits shall me assail, nor grinding pains my body frail. It continues to talk about the good memories of this person’s life. This poem is a true description of how wonderful Heaven is going to be.
Anne Bradstreet’s poetry is some of the most entertaining pieces I have ever read. I really enjoyed being able to relate to her experiences. This made it much easier to read and stay focused. I saw much of her poetry to be discussions. It seemed as though the main point in her work was the concept of conversation. I believe conversation is such a great part of relationships and social life in general.
While in conversation, we can show our emotion, learn about other people, tell about your self, and many other parts of life. Without conversation and language our world would be nothing but chaos. Reading Bradstreet’s poetry has been a real eye opener and a chance for me to learn new things and see new perspectives on the world.
