Anne Bradstreet

ANNE BRADSTREET





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In this picture, we see a house completely in flames and rotting in the eyes of a woman, still sitting in front of her and watching how it will burn slowly.This image can be compared with the time that the house of Anne Bradstreet also devoured by the fire. Moreover, the description in his poem of his misfortune is captured with all kinds of details andmakes us imagine the image of that night while she was sleeping.

But for the Puritans, it was a sign of God. For Puritans, suffering was positive because it was a way God had to test them and throughthe experience of suffering puritans could get to understand and feel the presence of God in their lives. Anne Bradstreet tries to see the presence of God in this experience. She tries to find ananswer connected with the spiritual world and then she writes about it. In the poem, she was sleeping, and in the middle of the night, she heard Fire! She cried o God not to leave her without help. Whenthe sight was so terrifying, she blessed God since it was God’s will. The belief in God was very important. Besides, everyday life is full of signs to tell them about their salvation and the presenceof God. They must look into their hearts analyzing everything, trying to discover the presents of God there. She talksabout the objects that she loved so much, that in some way represented her life (trunk, chest, candle). She is realizing all these things are lost. She is crossing the border from resignation tocomplain. Later, she goes back to the idea that between earthpossessions and spiritual possessions, the later ones are the most important. At the end of the poem,...