Thursday, August 30, 2012

Anne Bradstreet Poetry P6. 106-114


Anne Bradstreet
1612-1672

I was intrigued by Anne Bradstreet’s poem “Before the Birth of One of Her Children” because she blended the concepts of new life and death. In the poem, Anne is about to give birth to one of her children and as she thinks about the bond between mother and child she contemplates the idea of her children’s lives when she is no longer alive. Anne is true when she says in lines 3-4 “No ties so strong, no friends so dear and sweet, But with death’s parting blow is sure to meet” implying that there is no bond like that of a mother and her child and impending death makes losing such loved ones difficult, if not impossible to bear. For mother and child are so close they are one, in line 11 Anne says, “That when that knot’s untied that made us one, I may seem thine, who in effect am none”. This line referring to the knot’s untied made us one, I picture the umbilical cord that connects mother to child in the womb and how with that life support connection they are in fact one.
  Anne goes on to say that she wants to have her faults buried with her in her grave and her worth and virtue to be solely remembered. I agree with Anne for when we die, it is important to focus on our good qualities and the admirable qualities that we possessed as opposed to focusing on our negative attributes and our faults. Other lines that really struck me were lines 21-22, “And when thy loss shall be repaid with gains Look to my little babes, my dear remains.” When she passes, there will be grief over her loss but what she leaves behind (her children) is beloved and cherished. Perhaps giving the world the gift of her children is the most admirable and respected thing she has done in her life.  

·      Why do you think Anne chose the time during her pregnancy to contemplate her children’s life if she were to die?
·      What is it about the circle of life that makes life and death seem like on in the same? There cannot be new life if there is not death.

It is evident in Anne Bradstreet’s writings that she is a woman of faith and spirit. In her letter “To My Dear Children” she seems to be writing a farewell letter to her children for when she is gone and no longer able to teach them the word and the ways of God. On pg. 111 she states her purpose for writing to her children, “I have not studied in this you read to show my skill, but to declare the truth, not to set forth myself, but the glory of God.” She is not writing to her kids to show her skill but to give them the word of God and to show them how God has influenced her life in everyway. Anne continues to discuss how God helped her through times of sickness. Her writing proves her ideas that God is in ultimate control and power when she states “It pleased God to keep me a long time without a child, which was a great grief to me and cost me many prayers and tears before I obtained one,” (p.111). She believes it is God that kept her without child for so long and that our plan for our lives and for ourselves may not always match up with his plan and his timing for us.
Anne seems to believe that everything happens for a reason and God is always testing us and trying our faith. For example, on pg. 112 she states “ sometimes He hath smote a child with sickness, sometimes chastened by losses in estate, and these times (through His great mercy) have been the times of my greatest getting and advantage; yea, I have found them the times when the Lord hath manifested the most love to me.” There are times in God’s plan that bring sadness or stress or disappointment, and it is in these times that one must further seek Him and his word for God will cast his love on you and help you through. It is the challenges that life brings through God’s plans that shape us into who we are or who we want to become.

·      Do you believe Anne when she says she is writing this just to speak the truth and not to show off her talents in writing? Why or Why not?
·      Do you agree with her beliefs in God and that everything in life is set in his hands and according to his plans? Explain.


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